Adventures in Vegan Cooking: Dubu Jorim (Korean)

I am far from being vegan. While not an avid carnivore, I definitely appreciate my meat, especially when it comes to Korean cuisine. Bulgogi, kalbi, dwaeji bokkeum... Korean bbq is seriously the best, and among some of my favourite foods. But there is still a part of me that is curious about "the other side," if you will. I am definitely not unwilling to forgo meat in meals, and enjoy cooking vegetarian or vegan every once in awhile. So, when I came across a recipe for "saucy dubu jorim" on Alien's Day Out, I decided that I had to try it. I'm not exactly a huge, huge fan of tofu or anything, but spicy tofu? Sounded pretty freaking good. 

The saucy suspects. I was lacking in the rice syrup department, so I substituted corn syrup. It felt wrong, but in a pinch...

The tofu that I used was also extra-firm, as that was all that I had in my fridge. 

Mixin' the sauce! My garlic press was packed away in a box, so sadly my garlic was not as mince-y as it could have been, but ah well. Still worked out ok! I also used chives fresh from the garden. 

Pan frying the tofu. 

Add the sauce, allow it to simmer for a bit, and...

짠! All plated and looking delicious :)

Overall Thoughts:

Unfortunately I had a slight sauce crisis once I added it to the tofu. See, with using corn syrup, I wanted to use a light hand in fear of things being too sweet, and I was also paranoid about things being too saucy - I like sauce, but did not want my tofu to be swimming in it. This lead to emergency ketchup and gochujang (as well as a little extra corn syrup) being hurriedly added in halfway through the cooking process, but everything ended well (phew). 

After initially sampling it, I felt that it was missing a certain something-something, so I sprinkled the tofu with a little bit of sesame oil upon serving it. I think next time I will probably just substitute half of the veg oil for a little bit of sesame oil. Overall though, this was actually pretty freaking good, especially when wrapped in lettuce like the original poster suggested. I also ate it with rice, which helped add a bit more substance to the meal, and was pleasantly full afterwards. 

Would I make it again? Most likely! It was quick, filling, used ingredients that I already had on hand (though the tofu being on hand was a fluke), and would be the perfect meal for a school night when I don't have time to whip anything too fancy up. 

For those looking for the original recipe, you can find it here.

Posted in: food, recipes