In the process of developing this recipe, which took a while, I turned our kitchen into a take-out-at-home test kitchen. Many many batches of sauce were made with tiny tweaks here and there. Finding the balance of elusive “Teriyaki Restaurant Dressing” in the dressing took a while! The good news is that meant I got to eat a lot of broiled tofu, which is the best.

There are many teriyaki sauce recipes out there. There are many variations of teriyaki, and every restaurant has its own style. Every home cook has their own way of recreating those flavors in their kitchen… David wanted this to taste like his childhood memory of the sauce at the hole-in-the-wall teriyaki joint he grew up going to. Maybe it has a different vibe than your favorite teriyaki sauce, but this is how his quintessential teriyaki tastes.

Juxtaposed with hot steamed rice and a salty, crisp, chewy protein covered in sweet and aromatic teriyaki sauce: The salad provides a necessary flavor, texture, and temperature contrast. (Iceberg lettuce deserves more credit, pals!) Sadly, because the dressing is based in mayo, we have yet to come by a vegan version of this iconic salad in a restaurant. Don’t fret though! It’s really easy to make at home — Even sharing some ingredients with our recipe for restaurant-style teriyaki sauce! (We love a pantry full of multitasker ingredients.)

Broiling tofu is about as quick-and-easy as it gets... Heck, you could even make this in a toaster oven as long as it has a broiler. It’s somewhere between grilled and fried, crisp and soft, chewy and tender. It can be seasoned for any cuisine or dish. As we hinted at, we tend to use in any recipe one might use grilled meat. Dry-rub it with cajun seasoning and serve it up with braised greens and grits! Add chili powder then dice it up and drizzle with lime juice for tacos! Cut it into wedges and add into a stir-fry! Slice it and drizzle it with teriyaki sauce alongside rice and veggies. Toss into a Caesar salad! Anyone else getting hungry? The point is… The tofu limits don’t exist! You’re free to go forth and conquer any dish with this delectable tofu at your side.