Thursday, July 3, 2008

Bi bim bop




Hey everyone - I made this delicious bi bim bop with tofu the other night when my dear brother came over for dinner. The tofu is so good, even if you don't like tofu, you'll like this.

1. Cut up a block of extra firm tofu.

2. Make marinade:

2 1/2 T soy sauce

1 T sugar

1 T rice wine

1 T sesame oil

1 clove of finely minced garlic

1/2 tsp minced ginger

several green onions, sliced

1/4 tsp toasted sesame seeds

1/8 tsp pepper

water

(this is really bulgogi marinade, so try it with beef too. Really, I don't usually measure, I just dump some of each of the above in a ziploc bag and throw in whatever, you can't really screw it up)


3. Add tofu to marinade.

4. Cut up your vegetables into thin slices or julliene. I bought this nifty tool at the grocery store called a "julliene grater" (see photo), it is like a vegetable peeler, but serrated, so you just run it along the carrot or whatever, and it makes perfect little ribbons. So easy.
I used carrots and cucumber because they are cheap, and pretty. Like me!
5. Oh yes, you should be cooking some rice now. Preferably short grain rice with this. The brand I used is called Calrose, I think.
6. Ok, now just cook a few eggs into an omelet and slice it up, or just scramble them, which is what I did because I'm lazy.
7. Now, cook the tofu in a little oil. If you want it crispy, you should probably try to drain off the marinade first. It is really good in the marinade though, so you could throw it in a pan and heat it through. It is good cold in the marinade, also. That's the beauty of tofu -- no salmonella!
8. Now really you just assemble it. Rice, tofu, vegetable, top it with some hot sauce - I had some awesome Korean hot bean paste given to me by my dear friend. Thanks Christi!
9. You can also garnish it with more green onions.
10. I don't know if this is authentic bi bim bop, but I don't care.





2 comments:

cookcat said...

Laura, you have inspired me to try tofu--Adam says I should be brave and go for it and this recipe looks SO good!

Unknown said...

Oh good, I hope you do try it! One tip that I forgot to mention is to rinse the tofu in cold water first, that ensures it will not be at all bitter --no one wants bitter tofu!