If making rice start that now.

Using your hands, break tofu apart into roughly one-inch pieces. (The ragged edges help crisp up the tofu and soak up more sauce, if you prefer cubes go for it!) Place a clean dish towel or paper towel on a plate and spread tofu out in one layer on the towel to absorb excess moisture.

In a small bowl mix together gochujang paste, soy sauce, and maple syrup. Set aside.

Remove the towel from the tofu and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with cornstarch (or potato starch) and toss to coat evenly.

Heat up a skillet to medium-high heat, add 1-2 tablespoons oil to coat the pan. Fry the tofu in one layer: put it in the pan and leave it for about 5 minutes (don’t try to move it!) over medium heat until it develops a crust and naturally releases. Flip the pieces over and cook another 4-5 minutes. Stir the pieces around to get the sides of the tofu. Stir in the gochujang sauce, you can do this in a separate bowl or directly in the pan. Turn off the heat and set aside.

In a colander, toss cucumbers with 1 teaspoon of salt and set over a plate for 30 minutes. (See notes for skipping this step).

In a bowl whisk together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, sesame oil, scallions and Gochogaru flakes.

Lightly rinse the cucumber slices and use a kitchen towel to blot and dry. Add ½ of the to the dressing in the bowl and mix. Reserve the remaining dressing to add to the bowls if they need extra sauce for the rice.

Place rice in bowls, top with Korean tofu and Korean cucumber salad.

Add kimchi, toasted sesame seeds and fresh cilantro.

Serve with extra dressing.