Hey Hive!
We're back with more of our home cooking! If you're unfamiliar with this series, it's where I showcase some of the food we've been making at home since we've been cooking a lot nowadays! Both because it's cheaper and also healthier to cook for yourself compared to eating out. While I usually stick to the usual recipes I do like to try new ones once in a while and figured I'd share the new ones I've tried once a month so here we go!
The other day I came across another video from the youtube channel Aaron and Claire. They're a Korean couple in South Korea and Aaron is a former professional chef so their channel is mostly Korean recipes. I've been following them for a while now and I saw a video that stood out to me - this Gochujang Tofu Rice Bowl which looks so good!
Gochujang is a spicy Korean paste that I've seen being used very frequently. We have them in our supermarkets here so they're not hard to find as well. I've never cooked with it before and since both of us love spicy things, tofu and broccoli, I thought I'd give this recipe a try!
Source: Fairprice
The recipe in the video called for some extra ingredients that I didn't have so I tweaked it a little bit to make it simpler. After some meh experiences cooking with tofu I decided to try using a firmer version called Tau Kwa instead.
For the main ingredients:
- 1 broccoli
- 1 pack of tofu or tau kwa (400g)
- rice
- garlic (at least 3 cloves)
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
For the sauce:
- 2 tbsp gochujang paste
- 1 tbsp gochugaru (Korean spice powder)
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- Black pepper
- 0.5 cup water
- 0.5 tbsp corn starch
- 2 tsp sesame oil
Tofu or Tau kwa contains a lot of water and since we're going to fry it a little first before putting the sauce, ideally we want it to be a little crisp.
Step 1: Cover the tofu/tau kwa with paper towels and put something heavy on top to squish the water out for at least half an hour. If you don't have the time for this, you can use a hair dryer after you cut them into smaller pieces like in the video.
Step 2: Make the sauce by mixing it the ingredients stated above. It should look something like this, which is quite fluid but it's okay.
Step 3: Mince the garlic cloves. I used a simple food processor that doesn't make it too fine.
It should look something like this. Of course you can hand chop it as well.
Step 4: Cut up the broccoli, making sure to separate the florets. Most broccoli recipes only call for the florets but don't waste the stems. You can use them for soup or put them in rice like me.
Step 5: Boil the broccoli in a pot of water for a few minutes until it's a little soft but can still hold its shape.
Once that's done, drain the water and run the broccoli under some cold water to stop the cooking.
Step 6: Cut up the tofu/tau kwa into cubes and dab them more with paper towels if necessary. If you want to get them more crisp make sure you dry them out as much as you can.
Step 7: Pour half a cup of corn starch on a tray or a plate and toss the tofu pieces around, coating them on all sides, them set them aside.
Once all this is done, you're ready to cook!
Step 8: In a wok or pan, put 2 tablespoons of cooking oil on medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, gently place the tofu cubes into the pan.
Make sure to turn the tofu cubes or toss them with a spatula as they fry to get all the sides. Once they're lightly browned, set them aside.
Step 9: Stir fry the garlic for 1-2 minutes until it gets a bit brown.
Step 10: Reduce the heat to medium and add in the sauce prepared.
Stir the mixture until the garlic is well combined.
Step 11: Place the fried tofu cubes into the pan and gently toss until they're evenly coated in the sauce on all sides.
In the video, he actually mix the broccoli into the sauce too but serves it as a side, but I thought it'd be better to stir fry it with the sauce as well.
Step 12: Add a little bit of sesame oil, give it a good mix and you're done!
Just a disclaimer: I actually attempted this recipe before with actual tofu and I think I didn't soak out enough of the water and it turned out quite wonky since the pieces were too wet and didn't fry well. Tau kwa is a lot firmer than tofu and takes to frying much easier, so this attempt was more successful.
The video made it out to look pretty simple but it actually takes quite a bit of effort. But it looked and smelled so good!
I served it alongside some leftover fried rice I prepared from the previous day, but this would work so well with freshly made white rice too since the sauce will give the rice extra flavour and spice. We normally add chili to my fried rice anyway so this works as well.
The tau kwa wasn't as crispy as I thought it'd be even though I fried it to look just like in the video. But it might've gotten soft from the sauce as well. The broccoli was a nice texture; soft but still had a bit of a crunch, and paired really well with the sauce!
This sauce is definitely a winner though; it was my favourite combination of salty and spicy, and the garlic gave it a nice kick as well. The sauce made the tau kwa, broccoli and rice taste a lot yummier with the extra flavour!
Overall, this dish took quite a while to prepare but it was worth it! Sean finished his plate so quick because it was so delicious! If you're a fan of spice and/or want a flavourful vegetarian meal, definitely try this recipe out!
Thanks so much for reading!
To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!
