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Better Than Chipotle Sofritas Bowl

adding avocado

In two weeks, I will be running the Chicago Marathon. In case you don’t know, a marathon consists of running 26.2 miles. Yes, in a row. Yes, voluntarily. I used to think this was strange, too, and part of me still does.

Me in the 2017 Bank of America Chicago Marathon

Be that as it may, in order to fuel my training, I’ve been trying to eat things that are much more balanced. If I had my way, I’d eat nothing but carbs and carbs and carbs with tiny teensy amounts of protein. But, after a 20 mile training run, my muscles need both carbs and protein to recover. Cue my Better Than Chipotle Sofritas Bowl.

Why do I call it “Better Than Chipotle”? Because it is. I was traveling several weeks ago with my husband and his go-to meal when we are on the road is Chipotle’s sofritas bowl. I’d never had it before, but I was starving. He offered me a spoonful and I was surprised. It didn’t taste as flavorless as expected. However, I knew I could improve on it when I got home.

What is Sofritas Anyway?

When I first saw “sofritas” on the Chipotle menu, I assumed it was some processed meat alternative. I don’t really like the texture of meat alternatives and thus never bothered to try it. But, “Sofritas” is actually just shredded tofu, braised in a bunch of different flavors. Now, tofu is something I’m not only quite familiar with, but a protein I absolutely adore. So, for this recipe, we start out with a block of extra firm tofu that I’ve pressed.

slicing up extra firm tofu into 1/2 inch thick slices

What does it mean to “press” tofu? It means that you’ve added weight to it and squeezed out all the excess liquid. Tofu is made up of a lot of water, and the water makes it rather jiggly. If you want a firmer texture (i.e., “meatier”), reducing the liquid content will go a long way. Once you’ve pressed your tofu, slice it up into 1/2-inch thick slices. Then fry them up in a little oil to add more texture and flavor.

flipping the tofu in the pan

Honestly, the hardest part about this recipe is flipping the tofu. You have to cook it in the oil for awhile–around 7 minutes on each side. Why? Again, because of the water. However much you press the tofu, there’s still a ton of water stuck inside. That water is what makes everything take so darn long! Make sure to cook the tofu in one layer. This is not going to turn out nearly as well if you try to just dump everything into your pan and cook it. You’ll end up with a lot of soggy tofu with very little texture.

Breaking up to the tofu

Speaking of texture, you can create a “crumbled meat” effect by using your chopsticks or a spoon to break up the fried tofu. It’s not “shredded,” but it achieves the same effect. Next, it’s time to add a bunch of flavor to your tofu!

adding spices to tofu

First, you add a bunch of spices. Here, I’ve added the following:

  • Smoked paprika (or regular paprika)
  • Garlic powder
  • Chili powder
  • Ground cumin

You can, of course, add whatever spices you like. For example, add some cayenne powder for extra heat or even some fennel seed to give the tofu more of a sausage like flavor. Add turmeric and your favorite garam masala blend to give it more of an eastern vibe. The point is, it’s only going to be better than Chipotle if it appeals to your spice palate!

adding black beans to sofritas

As I mentioned earlier, the point of this bowl is to add a bit more protein to my diet. Accordingly, I dumped an entire can of black beans over my tofu. Black beans are about the most perfect food in the world for anyone who is very physically active. Just 1 cup of black beans has:

  • 16 grams protein
  • 0 grams fat
  • 40 grams carbs
  • 14 grams fiber
  • 0 grams sugar
adding salsa to sofritas

Now, here is the secret to any good sofritas recipe: the salsa. You can definitely marinara if you’re in a pinch, but the idea is to “braise the tofu” in chilis, and therefore, a really good salsa is critical. Mine happens to be homemade (YUP!), but obviously, you can use a solid store bought salsa that you enjoy. I also added shallots for a little extra zip.

adding liquid smoke to sofritas

To amp up the flavor profile, I added some soy sauce and of course some liquid smoke (which is what I prefer to worcestire sauce).

adding vegetable broth to sofritas

Add your favorite vegetable broth to bind all the flavors together and allow the tofu to braise for about 3 minutes, until the liquid reduces down to a thick sauce.

mixing together the sofritas

Assembling the Bowl.

Now comes the fun part: assembling the bowl!

So, Chipotle’s sofritas bowl starts out over its cilantro lime rice. The problem is, my tastebuds viscerally reject cilantro (it’s in my DNA–I tested it!). Accordingly, I sub in some flat leaf parsley. Obviously, use whatever you like or both! I squeeze in a bit of fresh lime juice, together with some sea salt, and my rice is ready to go. Oh, and the rice? I used brown basmati rice, but you can use whatever kind of rice you like.

cutting corn off the cob

After that, the sky is truly the limit here. It was corn season, so I steamed up a couple ears of corn to add a bit of summer sweetness to my bowl. Then, because my husband loves them, I also diced up some fresh tomatoes (tbh, I could do without them, but they are pretty).

adding tomatoes

Then, of course, the obligatory avocado fan for some healthy fat:

adding avocado

And finally, for a bit more texture, I crumbled some tortilla chips into the bowl:

crumbling tortilla into bowl

And last but not least, just the tiniest bit of grated vegan cheese:

grating cheese into bowl

Heading into the Marathon.

Just a brief word on running and how to eat in the weeks leading up to the big race. I’m not a nutritionist, but I have fun multiple half-and full marathons. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that each body is somewhat unique and therefore, what works for may not perfectly work for you. That said, there are some fundamental rules to fueling that apply to everyone:

  • You have to eat. Severe calorie restriction is not consistent with the goal of finishing a half or full marathon. Your best performances require food. Full stop.
  • Eating a balanced diet is best. Loading the plate completely with carbs or completely with protein or (worse) completely with fat will give you digestive issues and will not promote maximum recovery or muscle generation. You may lean more towards one of these macros, but your plate should have some portion of all three.
  • Eating right after your run is important. I used to poo-poo this rule for a long time (think years) after reading some non-scientifically backed blog post that said it didn’t matter when you ate after your run. But, after working with a licensed sports dietician who specializes in female runners, I started eating right after my runs and it has made an enormous difference.
  • It should be delicious. Eating healthy and balanced does not have to equal bland and flavorless. There are a lot of ways to inject flavor without screwing up your macros. For example, spices! Soy sauce! Liquid smoke!

Finally, for those of you who are new to running or thinking about hitting the pavement, might I suggest looking at HOKA. They have a shoe for basically every kind of foot and runner. I’ve been training in the Mach 4s and they are easily the most comfortable running shoes I’ve ever worn!!

Quick Tips for Making Better Than Chipotle Sofritas Bowl:

  • Make sure to press the tofu to get rid of as much of the excess liquid as possible.
  • Cook the tofu in one layer with a little oil in order to achieve the desired texture and to prevent it from getting soggy.
  • Add whatever spices you like–this is about making it enjoyable to your palate!
  • Add beans (I used black beans) for more bulk and protein.
  • Use a really good salsa to create depth of flavor for your braising liquid.
  • When creating your bowl, it should look balanced–don’t go overboard on the sofritas while having 1 tablespoon of rice or the other way around. Your body needs both!

Better Than Chipotle Sofritas Bowl

When you want to make your own sofritas bowl
adding avocado
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
2 bowls

Ingredients
  

  • 1 block extra firm tofu pressed
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • 1 tbsp garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 3/4 cup cooked black beans
  • 1/2 cup salsa
  • 1 shallot sliced
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp liquid smoke
  • 1/2 cup vegetable broth
  • 3 cups cooked brown basmati rice
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro or parsley
  • 1/4 lime
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 cup cooked corn
  • 1/2 cup diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 avocado sliced
  • 2 tbsp crumbled tortilla chips
  • 2 tbsp grated vegan cheese

Instructions
 

Sofritas

  • Slice the tofu up into 1/2-inch thick slices.
    slicing up extra firm tofu into 1/2 inch thick slices
  • Add the oil to a large pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmery (about 1 minute), add the tofu slices in one layer to the pan.
  • Cook the tofu until the bottom side is golden brown (around 7 minutes). Carefully flip them over and cook until both sides are golden brown (another 7 minutes).
    flipping the tofu in the pan
  • Using a spoon or chopsticks, begin breaking upon the tofu until it resembles crumbled meat.
    Breaking up to the tofu
  • Add the paprika, garlic powder, chili powder, and cumin.
    adding spices to tofu
  • Add the black beans and shallots.
    adding black beans to sofritas
  • Add the salsa.
    adding salsa to sofritas
  • Add the soy sauce and liquid smoke.
    adding liquid smoke to sofritas
  • Add the vegetable broth and stir everything together. Cook until the liquid reduces all the say down (around 3 minutes).
    adding vegetable broth to sofritas

Bowl

  • Add chopped cilantro or parsley to cooked rice.
  • Squeeze lime juice into rice and next add sea salt. Stir everything together.
  • Scoop your rice into the bowls. Then, scoop sofritas into your bowls.
  • Garnish with corn, tomatoes, tortilla chips, avocado, and grated cheese.
    grating cheese into bowl
Keyword chipotle, rice bowl, sofritas, tofu
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EntreesMains

Kimchi Crunchwrap Supreme

So, I’m not ashamed to admit that Taco Bell used to be on my weekly rotation of fast food joints before I went vegan. There was a time in my life where I was too busy (and quite frankly too depressed) to care about what I ate. It was the unhealthiest time of my life–emotionally and physically–but also understandable. Fast food tastes good–that’s why it’s so addictive. Luckily, since going vegan, I was motivated to learn out to make my own food that tastes even BETTER and this Kimchi Crunchwrap Supreme is exactly that!

As you all already know, I Koreanize things–even fast food favorites. It is one of the many joys of cooking your own food: you get to make it how you like it! And I like to add kimchi to all the things, lol. Here are the components to this delicious, savory, crunchy Kimchi Crunchwrap Supreme:

I mean… after reading that, how can you NOT want to make this with me?

The Layers

What makes this wrap special is, of course, the kimchi. Vegan kimchi is still a little difficult to come by, but I really love a local brand called 80 Million Kimchi (this was the kimchi I grew up eating–long before I went vegan!), as well as a national brand called Mother-In-Law’s Kimchi (an allusion to the idea that MiL’s kimchi always tastes the best!).

Good kimchi tastes excellent as-is. But, for this wrap, I wanted to up the ante a bit on the flavor side of things. My absolute favorite way to eat kimchi is with a little sweetness and caramelization. In order to achieve that, I saute the kimchi in a little oil and then add some gochujang and maple syrup.

Gyerranmari–or Korean omelet–is a component of so many snack foods. And for this, if you couldn’t tell, I was definitely trying to go with a little bit of the kimbap-Tex-Mex fusion feel, so I thought it would be a perfect component to this wrap.

Here, I didn’t roll the omelet like I typically do. I just made essentially a pancake using JUSTEgg. Because this recipe calls for 2 servings, make sure that the diameter of the omelet is at least 5 inches, so that you can cut two smaller round pieces out of this.

The other cooked component is the crunchy tortilla (hence the name “Crunchwrap”). For this, I used two of my favorite corn tortilla (links in the recipe below), baked ’em off in the oven, and they came out perfectly!

Baked tortilla

And finally, the last cooked component is the Kimchi Cheese Sauce. If you’ve been a follower of the blog for awhile, you know that I’ve been making this sauce for years and it is always a hit. It’s creamy, cheesy, spicy, and perfect to bind all these wonderful ingredients together.

The Assembly

So many videos and blogs make the whole folding thing look easy. But, after making this twice and failing twice, I wanted to make sure you had realistic expectations when it came to assembling this. As with packing for your summer vacation, the key to this is to NOT overdo it. You will be tempted to stuff the living daylights out of this wrap, but as with your suitcase, if you fill this wrap with too many dresses, you will NOT be able to zip it up.

Adding very little rice

As you can see, I’m not adding that much rice and I am leaving PLENTY of room around the edge (about 2 inches), which is what’s going to give you the real estate you need to fold the pleats later.

I added avocado to the wrap because I love avocado, you often find it in kimbap these days, and why not add it to this wrap? I did sprinkle a tiny bit of salt over the avocado after adding it. And the only reason I sliced it up with a spoon rather than a knife in advance is because this was my THIRD TIME MAKING this, after the aforementioned twice failed attempts and I was starting to get tired of doing it over and over again, lol.

After adding the avocado, you add the baked corn tortilla which basically acts as one huge tortilla chip in the middle of your wrap. It is delicious.

As you can see, the omelet round is very small. It’s about 2.5 inches in diameter. I tried using a much larger round and ultimately, that prevented me from wrapping the tortilla as tightly as I needed to in order to keep it from falling apart. The truth is, you don’t need very much, so, once again, don’t over do it!

Of course, next is the caramelized kimchi! Followed by the Kimchi Cheese Sauce. And that is it! You are ready to Wrap and Roll!

Adding small tortilla to everything.

You start by adding the smaller flour tortilla over the filling ingredients. Here, because I didn’t have two different sized tortillas, I simply cut out a smaller piece out of the large one. I used it to blanket the filling ingredients and then began folding the larger tortilla over it like so:

Continue rotating the entire package until you’ve created pleats all the way around. Afterwards, I press the whole thing down with a small plate.

Adding plate to keep the package tight.

Then, I flip the plate over and you will have a perfectly tight and contained wrap!

The Cook

Now, this is where things would fall apart–literally. Before serving, you want to toast both sides of the wrap, partially because of the flavor and texture, but also because you want to seal your wrap. But, if you packed the wrap with too much stuff, thus preventing tight pleating, yours will fall apart too. 🙁

Cooking the wrap

You’re going to add a little oil to your non-stick pan over medium high heat and then drop your wrap–pleat side down–onto the pan. Allow it to toast for about a minute before using your spatula to gently flip it.

As you can see, the pleats have been toasted into the wrap, so that it won’t fall apart when you cut into it. This is exactly what you want and again, will be difficult to achieve if you get carried away with the fillings. Cook this for about another minute so you get a lovely golden color on the bottom as well.

Cut in in half to get that $$$ shot and then enjoy yourself a Kimchi-fied Tex-Mex classic!!

Quick Tips on Making Your Kimchi Crunchwrap Supreme

  • Do not try making this with small tortillas unless you want really small wraps (like the size of a dumpling). You need to make this with the jumbo burrito sized tortillas.
  • DO use smaller corn tortillas (baked) to add CRUNCH in the middle of the layers.
  • DO use a smaller flour tortilla at the very top of the fillings to create a “patch” that holds the wrap together.
  • Do not add too much filling–less is more, here. You want to make sure there’s plenty of tortilla left around the filling to create very tight pleats.
  • DO get creative with your filling! I used the flavors and things that I like to eat!

Kimchi Crunchwrap Supreme

My Korean vegan take on a fast food favorite!
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2 crunchwraps

Equipment

  • baking sheet
  • Non-stick pan

Ingredients
  

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425° F. Place two corn tortillas on a baking sheet and spray each side with cooking spray. Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven for 7 to 10 minutes, until they are hard (like tortilla chips). Remove them from the oven and set them aside.
  • Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a medium non-stick pan over medium high heat. When the oil is shimmery (about 1 minute), add the kimchi. Cook the kimchi until it begins to soften, about 3 minutes.
  • Add gochujang and maple syrup and continue to cook until the kimchi is thick and saucy, about 3 minutes. Set aside.
  • Make the omelet by adding 1 teaspoon of olive oil to a round nonstick pan over medium heat. Pour the JUSTEgg into the pan and let it cook, using wooden chopsticks or a non-metallic spatula to stir the liquid over the heat (to make sure it all cooks before you flip it). After about 2 minutes, flip it with a spatula and cook for another 2 minutes.
  • Cut the omelet into two round pieces, each with a diameter of about 2 1/2 inches. Set it aside.
  • Place a large flour tortilla on a flat surface. Add 1/4 cup of rice. Add 1/4 the avocado, smashing it a little so you can spread it over the rice. Add one of the baked corn tortillas.
  • Add one of the round omelet pieces, top it with 1/2 of the kimchi, and add 2 tablespoons of the Kimchi Cheese Sauce.
  • Top everything with one of the small flour tortillas. Then, begin folding the bottom larger tortilla over the top one, rotating everything as you go (see video).
    Adding small tortilla to everything.
  • Place a small plate over the top and flip right side up.
    Adding plate to keep the package tight.
  • Add remaining oil to a small non-stick pan over medium high heat. When the oil is shimmery (about 1 minute), add the tortilla wrap (folded side down) and cook until brown (about 1 minute). Flip and repeat.
    Cooking the wrap
  • Serve with salsa, more Kimchi Cheese Sauce, or as is! It's so good!!!
Keyword Crunchwrap, kimchi, Tortilla
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Gluten FreeMains

Vegan “Chicken” Adobo

I’ve only recently started posting regularly to my YouTube Channel, but the community there is active, vocal, and, in some ways, incredibly supportive. One YT follower asked that I post Filipino food, and I thought, “Sure!” Because I know nothing about Filipino food, though, I decided to do some research. I not only Googled “Filipino food,” I also spent some time watching a bunch of YT videos of Filipino people making their native foods. Among the most popular dishes was a dish called “Chicken Adobo.”

So, I decided to dig more into Chicken Adobo and after reading multiple iterations of the recipe, it started to sound very similar to a dish my grandmother used to make for me and my brother. One of our FAVORITE dishes–the one we used to ask for all the time. But, why in the world would my North Korean grandmother be making her grandkids Filipino food? Well, I asked my mother about it and it turns out that it WAS Chicken Adobo that my grandmother was making for us!

My mother’s best friend at work, Esther, was Filipino. And she taught my mother how to make this dish, and my mother, in turn, taught my grandmother (because Cheen Hahlmuhnee thought it was so delicious). And that is why my grandmother would make it for us kids all the time. The most amazing thing about all of this is that I would have never known this story had my YouTube follower not asked me to veganize Filipino food. I think that is so incredibly beautiful, don’t you?

How To Make The “Chicken.”

I generally don’t eat alternative meats (though I’m a big proponent of anything that will help people transition to a more meat free diet), but I did want to experiment a little with developing something that really looked and tasted like “chicken.” This methodology probably won’t go toe-to-toe with the heavyweights (Beyond Meat or Impossible Meats), but it’s fun to make, looks the part, and tastes delicious!

You need the following:

  • Jackfruit
  • Tofu
  • Potato Starch
  • Parsnip

Jackfruit.

I’ve never used fresh jackfruit before, so if you’d like to use fresh jackfruit, I can’t vouch that it’ll work the same way. That said, I washed and drained the brine from the canned jackfruit and removed all the hard seeds that are buried in the fleshy parts.

Afterwards, I cut off the hard “stems” from the fleshy parts, as well. What I really wanted was a bunch of the fibrous parts of the jackfruit, so that when you bite into a “drumstick,” you can see the jackfruit flesh.

cutting off hard parts of jackfruit

Tofu.

The other component of the “chicken” is tofu. As you’ve seen from my Ricepop Tofu recipe, tofu, when frozen, thawed, and pressed (twice) actually undergoes a chemical alteration that makes it chewier. It also retains the air pockets caused by the frozen liquid that is pressed out of it, making it far better at sucking in flavors. Accordingly, I thought it might work to mix the jackfruit together with the tofu to come up with “chicken.”

adding chunks of frozen tofu

Potato Starch.

Now, it’s all well and good if you can approximate the texture of the meat, but there needs to be something that holds it altogether. Enter potato starch. I love potato starch because it’s gluten free, it thickens, gets gelatinous when exposed to heat, and crisps up beautifully when fried. I therefore add a little bit of potato starch, which reacts to the liquid in the mixture, to serve as a glue. I knead the whole thing together for a few minutes until it turns into rough dough. If it’s too wet (and you’ll find out soon enough of it is when you try molding your “meat” to your “bones”), just add 1 teaspoon of potato starch at a time until it gets to the consistency you’ll need. HOWEVER, the more potato starch you add, the less “meaty” your drumsticks will be, so really only add just as much as you need and no more.

add potato starch to tofu and jackfruit

Parsnips.

In order to really make these look like chicken, I did want to have a “bone”–something you can hold onto while you eat these drumsticks. In my book, I have another recipe that utilizes this methodology (it’s amazing and you will want it, trust me!), but instead of parsnip, I used burdock root. Burdock root is NOT easy to come by in the United States, though, so I used parsnips here to serve the same purpose. You just cut it up into 2-inch long pieces, relatively thin (around 1/2-inch thick).

cut up parsnips

Take a chunk of the “dough” and begin molding it around a parsnip piece. Again, if you find that your dough is too wet to actually adhere to the parsnip, add a teensy bit of potato starch to your dough until you find that it does the trick.

molding dough around parsnip stick
molding the dough around the parsnip

Next, in order to achieve a “skin” over the meat, coat the drumsticks with a thin layer of potato starch.

coating drumstick with potato starch

Afterwards, I added a little oil to my pan and crisped up the drumsticks until they were nice and brown on all sides. Don’t they look gorgeous? I am so proud of them!

browning drumsticks

Braising The “Chicken.”

My understanding of chicken adobo is that it is essentially chicken that’s braised in a fabulously delicious braising liquid, made of the following:

  • soy sauce
  • vinegar
  • garlic
  • sweetener
  • black peppercorns
  • bay leaves

After browning the drumsticks, I removed them from the pan. I added garlic, onions, and potatoes to the pan. I don’t think potatoes are typically part of a chicken adobo recipe, but I love potatoes as we’ve discussed ad nauseum on this blog, so I couldn’t help myself. I did, however, keep it to one medium sized Yukon gold potato and I cut it up into large chunks, so they wouldn’t disintegrate into a mush.

add onions, garlic, and potato to pan

Next, add the drumsticks back to your pan, together with the soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, sweetener (I used brown sugar as this was what I saw used most often in other recipes), black peppercorns, and bay leaves.

add soy sauce to drumsticks

I added some gochugaru because, again, I couldn’t help myself (though, my mom says you can also add dried red chilis) as well as “No Chicken Broth” (which is a vegetable stock that tastes remarkably like chicken broth) to finish out my braising liquid.

add gochugaru to drumsticks

Then, you just pop on a lid and let it do it’s thing for about 15 minutes over low heat, sometimes spooning the liquid over the top of the drumsticks, until the potatoes are completely tender and the liquid is almost entirely cooked off.

cook until potatoes are tender

And that is how I make my Vegan Adobo Chicken!

Quick Tips To Make Vegan Adobo Chicken:

  • Make sure to twice freeze, thaw, and press your tofu. Using regular extra-firm tofu will not result in the right texture (thought it might still be delicious)!
  • Do not go overboard on the potato starch, as doing so will compromise the texture of the tofu and jackfruit combo.
  • Use a good vegetable stock or even a No Chicken Veggie Stock in order to add extra dimension to your braising liquid.
  • Spoon a little of the braising liquid over the top of the drumsticks while they are braising.

Vegan “Chicken” Adobo

My vegan (and slightly Korean) twist on a traditional Filipino dish!
5 from 3 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
8 drumsticks

Ingredients
  

  • 14 oz can jackfruit, in brine
  • 16 oz extra firm tofu twice frozen, thawed, and pressed
  • 2 tbsp potato starch plus more for coating
  • 1 large parsnip
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 4 to 5 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 cup onion chopped
  • 1 medium potato chopped
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup vinegar
  • 1/2 cup vegetable stock
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp gochugaru
  • 1 tbsp black peppercorns
  • 3 bay leaves

Instructions
 

  • Remove the jackfruit from the can and rinse and dry. Remove the seeds that are often buried inside the fleshy parts of the fruit.
    14 oz can jackfruit, in brine
  • Cut off the hard stems of the jackfruit, so that all your left with are the soft fibrous parts.
    14 oz can jackfruit, in brine
    cutting off hard parts of jackfruit
  • Place the jackfruit in a large container. Break off chunks of the twice frozen, thawed, pressed tofu into the container.
    16 oz extra firm tofu
    adding chunks of frozen tofu
  • Add 2 tablespoons of potato starch and mix everything together.
    2 tbsp potato starch
    add potato starch to tofu and jackfruit
  • Dust your surface with a little more potato starch then pour the contents of the bowl out. Knead it gently until a soggy "dough" forms.
    2 tbsp potato starch
  • Cut up the parsnip into about 2-inch long "sticks" that are about 1/2-inch thick.
    1 large parsnip
    cut up parsnips
  • Take a chunk of the "dough" (smaller than a tennis ball, larger than a golf ball) and mold it around a parsnip stick. If the dough does not adhere to the stick, add a teaspoon more potato starch to your dough.
    1 large parsnip, 2 tbsp potato starch
    molding dough around parsnip stick
  • Coat the drumstick with potato starch and repeat for the remaining dough.
    2 tbsp potato starch
    coating drumstick with potato starch
  • Add oil to a large pan over medium-high heat. When the oil gets hot (it will start to shimmer), add the drumsticks. Cook them until they are browned, about 2 minutes on all sides.
    2 tbsp oil
    browning drumsticks
  • Remove the drumsticks and add garlic, onion, and potato to the pan. Cook them until they are fragrant, around 3 minutes.
    4 to 5 cloves garlic, 1 cup onion, 1 medium potato
    add onions, garlic, and potato to pan
  • Add back the drumsticks. Next, add soy sauce, vinegar, and vegetable stock.
    1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup vinegar, 1/2 cup vegetable stock
    add soy sauce to drumsticks
  • Add brown sugar, black peppercorns, gochugaru, and bay leaves.
    2 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tbsp gochugaru, 1 tbsp black peppercorns, 3 bay leaves
    add gochugaru to drumsticks
  • Reduce the heat to low and allow the drumsticks and vegetables to cook until the potatoes are tender, and nearly all the liquid has cooked off, about 12 to 15 minutes.
    cook until potatoes are tender

Nutrition

Serving: 1drumstickCalories: 184kcalCarbohydrates: 30gProtein: 7gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 1gSodium: 528mgPotassium: 431mgFiber: 3gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 339IUVitamin C: 11mgCalcium: 72mgIron: 2mg
Keyword adobo, Filipino food
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EntreesFoodGluten FreeMainsSoups, Stews, and Side Dishes

Potato Onion Donuts

taking the donuts out of the oil

So, this past weekend, I was on the prowl for making a bunch of things out of my favorite food: the potato. I was browsing through YouTube for inspiration when I stumbled upon a channel called “Cooking Haru,” which featured these cheesy potato donuts. I was intrigued (and slightly drooling). So, I figured I would have to veganize it into these Potato Onion Donuts.

Now, there are some dishes that are extremely difficult to veganize. For example, I have yet to figure out how to veganize my favorite Korean dish of all time-oxtail stew (곰탕). This one, however, was very easy. I simply replaced the regular cheese with my favorite brand of vegan cheese and subbed in plant milk for the egg. And it came out absolutely perfectly scrumptious. You’ll want to make these pronto.

Potato Dough for the Doughnut

placing potatoes in pot of water

The trick to making these donuts is to create a dough. Makes sense, right? It’s actually pretty easy to make the dough, as it requires only the following ingredients:

  • Boiled potatoes
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Potato starch

That’s it! The slightly tricky part is figuring out how much potato starch you need to add in order to create a dough that’s dry enough to work with. You see, depending on factors that are really not in your control (e.g., how old your potatoes are, mostly), your dough might be “wetter” than mine. So, I only needed 2 tablespoons of potato starch to achieve a dough that didn’t stick to my hands like glue. You might need to double that.

I did use my hands to “knead” the dough, so you’ll want to wait until the potatoes have cooled a bit for you to handle. Otherwise, you can also use a wooden spoon to create the dough. It should come together fairly quickly and should be pretty smooth.

create dough with potatoes and starch

Wrapping the Onion Rings in Dough

After you create your potato dough, you’ll want to divide it up into four equal parts. Then, you’ll add a little more potato starch to your surface, if necessary, to prevent the dough from sticking to your surface. Next, gently begin rolling your dough piece out into a long rope (about 10 inches long), that’s about the width of your thumb.

Then, you’ll want to take your onion rings (you should have four of them) and line the inner ring with cheese slices. This is why you’ll want to make sure that the width of your cheese slices is roughly the same as the width of your onion rings.

Then, take the potato dough rope and wrap it around the onion ring. Begin molding the dough around the onion ring and the cheese, using your fingers.

It’ll take a little practice, but you’ll get the hang of it pretty quickly. In fact, you’ll be surprised at how supple the dough actually is and how well it stays in place once you’ve molded it around the onion ring and cheese. Once you’ve done one side, flip the ring over and repeat. Make sure that the dough extends into the center of the ring so that the entire ring is completely covered.

flipping the donut over
molding the potato dough around the onion ring

Dredge and Bread

The secret to making these donuts CRONCH is the dredge and bread, of course. You’ll need to create an assembly line of the following three ingredients:

  • flour (you can use gluten free flour)
  • plant milk (I used soy milk)
  • panko (you can use gluten free breadcrumbs)
assembly line for breading donut

First, you’ll dredge your donuts in a little flour. The key here is to make sure you don’t over-coat your donuts with flour. You’ll want just a nice thin layer of flour. Be sure to tap off any excess before moving down the assembly line.

dipping the donut in the flour

Next, you’ll dip the donut in the plant milk. And I mean dip. You don’t want to soak the donut in the plant milk. Just a quick dip to make sure the flour is wet and sticky.

dipping donut in the plant milk

The final step in the assembly line is coating the donut with the panko. Here, you want to make sure you really pack the panko onto the donut.

coating donut with panko

Repeat this process for all four of your donuts and they will be ready for frying!

Frying the Donuts

Now, I already know what you’re thinking: Can I bake or air fry these donuts? Theoretically, yes. You’ll need to give each of them a good spritz of oil on both sides, but I don’t see why not. Keep in mind, I have never used an air fryer in my life and I haven’t tested this theory out. But, if you’re leery of the deep fryer (I don’t blame you), you should definitely try baking these.

Otherwise, if you’re ok with the occasional vat of hot oil, then simply bring that oil to 350° F (or throw a small bread crumb in and if it floats immediately to the surface, you know you’re good to go) and add the donuts. Make sure not to overcrowd your pot.

fry donut in oil

You’ll want to cook them on both sides for about 2 minutes each until they are golden brown.

Fish them out, tapping off any excess oil.

I ate these with marinara sauce and they were absolutely delicious.

Quick Tips for Making Potato Onion Donuts

  • Make sure to season your potatoes before turning them into dough, as this will be one of the few opportunities you have to season your donuts.
  • The amount of starch you add to your potatoes will depend on the moisture content of the potatoes. Keep adding starch until you achieve a slightly tacky but supple dough–one you can handle without it sticking to your fingers.
  • When dredging and breading your donuts, make sure you do not over-coat your donuts with flour or soak your donuts in the plant milk. You just want to make sure your donuts are fully coated before moving onto the panko breading (which you do want to pack in).
  • Keep an eye on your donuts when they are in the oil: you don’t want to burn the bread crumbs. If they turn too brown too fast, reduce the temperature.
  • Serve with marinara, salsa, or just eat plain. They are always delicious!

Potato Onion Donuts

When the classic onion ring meets the potato, you get potato onion donuts!
taking the donuts out of the oil
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4 donuts

Ingredients
  

  • 2 potatoes
  • 2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 2 to 4 tbsp potato starch (depends on how much water your potatoes have)
  • 1/4 onion
  • 2 slices vegan cheese
  • vegetable oil (for frying)
  • marinara (for dipping)
  • 1 cup flour (or gluten free flour)
  • 1 cup plant milk
  • 1 cup panko (or gluten free breadcrumbs)

Instructions
 

  • Chop the potatoes into 1-inch cubes.
  • Place the potato cubes into a large pot of water (the potatoes should be completely submerged and then some). Salt the water generously. Bring the water to a boil and cook the potatoes for 15 minutes, until they are fork tender.
    placing potatoes in pot of water
  • Slice the onion into rings and pick out 4 large ones.
    create onion rings
  • Cut the cheese into strips that are the same width as your onion rings.
    cut cheese into strips
  • Drain the potatoes and place them in a large bowl. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
    add salt and pepper to cooked potatoes
  • Mash the potatoes using a fork, potato masher, or a large rice scooper, until they are pretty creamy.
    mash the potatoes
  • Add 2 to 4 tablespoons of potato starch. The amount you need to add will depend upon how wet your potatoes are. You will want to create a dough out of your potatoes, so that when you handle the dough, your hands are not completely sticking to it.
    add potato starch to potatoes to create dough
  • Divide the dough into four equal parts. Add some potato starch to your surface to make sure the dough doesn't stick and then, working with one portion at a time, create a 10-inch long rope.
    create dough with potatoes and starch
  • Take one of the onion rings and wedge slices of cheese on the inside along the ring.
  • Take the potato dough rope and place it around the onion ring. Then, gently begin molding the potato dough around the onion ring so that the onion ring, together with the cheese on the inside, is completely covered in the dough. Repeat for remaining onion rings.
    wrap the onion ring with potato dough
  • Create an assembly line for breading the donuts: (a) flour, (b) plant milk, and (c) panko.
    assembly line for breading donut
  • Coat each donut first with a thin layer of flour. Tap off any excess flour before dipping it in the plant milk (briefly–you don't want to soak the donut, you just want to coat it in liquid). Then, drop the donut gently in some panko, making sure it's evenly coated with the breadcrumbs.
    coating donut with panko
  • Bring a pot of oil to approximately 350°F. When the oil is hot, add the donuts to the oil, make sure not to crowd the pot.
    fry donut in oil
  • Cook for about 2 minutes on each side, until the donuts are golden brown.
  • Serve with your favorite marinara sauce on the side.
Keyword donuts, onion rings, potato
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Gluten FreeMainsSauces

Vegan Baked Kimchi Cheese Fries

So, all my friends on TikTok have been making the “perfect” french fries, and I wanted in on the fun. To be honest, the perfect fries, in my mind, can only exist when paired with kimchi. But not just raw kimchi-nope. I like my kimchi topping to be caramelized, sweet, and sticky.

One of my favorite Korean bar foods used to be dooboo kimchi, which translates into “Tofu Kimchi” (my veganized version of this favorite will be included in my forthcoming cookbook). Raw or steamed slices of tofu are topped with this gloriously stir-fried mixture of garlicky, sweet and sour kimchi. I decided to take that topping and put it on some fries. Can you think of anything more perfect than that? I didn’t think so.

“HOLD MY BEER” – Vegan Kimchi Cheese Sauce

It gets even better, though. Yes, there is a way to make these fries even more epic-we can add a KIMCHI Cheese Sauce! I created my Kimchi Cheese Sauce for my Kimchi Mac ‘n Cheese many years ago and it was so good, I fooled my non-vegan dog walker into thinking it was real queso! I’ve since tweaked the cheese sauce recipe to make it even more “kimchi-fied” and the results are truly mouthwatering. It’s basically Kimchi Chigae turned into a creamy dreamy cheesy sauce.

Now, there are a lot of ingredients to this recipe, and more than a handful of steps. But the cheese sauce will last you for several iterations of fries or pasta or anything you’d like to add Kimchi Cheese Sauce to (ramyeon? chips? ramyeon chips?). And, I’m going to break things down into parts so that it’ll be really easy. I promise!! And you will LOVE THE RESULTS!

The Aromatics, the Kimchi, and Cashews

There are really two main categories of ingredients to the cheese sauce. First, of course, are the things that impart flavor-the garlic, onions, spices, kimchi, kimchi juice, nutritional yeast, etc. Then, the cashews, potatoes, and the milk all help to create the creamy and slightly gooey texture.

I’m not sure what the science behind it all is, but the gumminess of potatoes (the regular old white potato-not sweet potatoes) create sort of a “glue” that acts like cheese or egg (I often use potato starch mixed with water for that purpose). Here, we’re going to add everything, including the potatoes and cashews, to a small pot, together with the aromatics and spices, and bring it to a boil until all the potatoes are completely cooked. Hence, I like to slice my potatoes very thinly, to ensure they cook quickly.

A lot of cheese sauce recipes require raw cashews soaked in water for 4 hours. I’ve never used raw cashews and I’ve never soaked my cashews. Cooking them in the boiling water (or BEER, if you can handle the gluten!!!) together with the potatoes softens them, so that they are ready to blend.

How to “Kimchify” this Cheese Sauce

It’s not just a matter of adding kimchi to your blender. I like to cook the kimchi to really concentrate the flavors. I also add a splash of good soy sauce to really enhance the umami of the flavors cooking in the pot, and then, of course, I add gochujang for additional “funk” (gochujang is spicy fermented soybean and chili paste) and heat. Finally, the final kimchi-inspired ingredient to this cheese sauce is the kimchi juice-i.e., the fiery brine that’s sitting in your kimchi jar. The brine adds that sour note to your cheese to make it more of a queso-the kind of cheese you’d add to your nachos.

In all, it really does look like you’re making kimchi chigae, right before you blend it all into a creamy sauce.

Baked Fries – Is It Really “Healthier” Than Fried Fries?

Yes.

Look, don’t get me wrong. I’m not afraid of deep frying things. But, after frying some potato donuts this weekend (will be posting that later), I wanted to step away from the vat of oil and make fries that were a little less taxing on the heart (and my back-it takes forever to deep fry in batches!).

Now, just because you bake these (or air fry them) doesn’t mean they don’t taste good. Actually, I think they taste just as good as regular old fried fries. Here, I used Yukon gold potatoes (which I generally find to be creamier and less brittle than russets) and par-boiled them, which is a fancy way of saying that I boiled them until they were chopstick tender before crisping them up in the oven.

Potatoes chopstick tender

The real variable for the texture of baked fries is the oil. How much oil will determine how “fried” your baked fries will be. The less oil you add, the less crispy. But of course, if you simply douse your potatoes in oil, at a certain point, it’s not that much different from deep frying them. In my case, I added about 2 tablespoons of oil to the baking sheet and then drizzled a bit more on top of the potatoes before sticking them in the oven.

Adding potatoes to baking sheet

I cooked them for about 15 minutes before flipping all of the wedges. I cooked them for about 5 more minutes and they came out crispy and perfect.

Sweet & Sour Kimchi Topping

Now, as I mentioned earlier, these Baked Fries are next level because of the sweet and sour kimchi topping. It is so easy to prepare, takes a handful of ingredients, and tastes out-of-this-world. You start with both extra virgin olive oil and sesame oil. The former is there to help increase the burn point. The latter is there to add a hint of sweetness. Then, you add scallions, garlic, and onions to really ratchet up the flavor profile. Get your oil lovely and infused and then dump your kimchi in.

Add kimchi to pan

Cook your kimchi for a few minutes until they just begin to caramelize and then you help that process along by adding the gochujang (which has some sweetness to it), a well as the maple syrup. And by the time you’re finished, you will have a pan full of kimchi you’ll want to eat before you add them to your fries, trust me. In fact, this would be perfect to eat with a bowl of rice.

After adding a generous serving of my Kimchi Cheese Sauce, I add a few more things to really make this dish special-some avocado I had lying around, toasted sesame seeds, and, of course, scallion greens.

Quick Tips for Making Baked Kimchi Cheese Fries

  • When making the Kimchi Cheese Sauce, make sure to slice your potatoes very thinly, in order to cut down on the cooking time.
  • If you really want to inject more flavor into your Kimchi Cheese Sauce, switch the water out for vegetable broth, a white wine, or your favorite beer.
  • Use a good blender to blend the ingredients into a thick and creamy sauce.
  • When making the Baked Fries, pick a waxier potato like a Yukon gold potato that’s less likely to fall apart after they’re par-boiled.
  • Make sure not to overcrowd your baking sheet, as doing so will prevent the crispiness you’ll want out of your potatoes.
  • Bake the potatoes at a scorching 475° F and do not line your baking sheet with anything.

VEGAN Baked Kimchi Cheese Fries

A plant based dairy free mashup of nachos and cheese fries!
5 from 2 votes
Top the kimchi fries with everything
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4 people

Equipment

  • blender
  • baking sheet
  • pot
  • pan

Ingredients
  

Kimchi Cheese Sauce

  • 3/4 small potato (thinly sliced)
  • 1/4 cup chopped onion
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 scallion white
  • 1/4 cup vegan kimchi
  • 1 tbsp gochugaru
  • 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tbsp garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup roasted cashews (unsalted)
  • 1 tbsp gochujang
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 2 tbsp kimchi liquid
  • 1/2 cup plant milk
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp maple syrup

Baked Fries

  • 4 yukon gold potatoes (chopped into wedges)
  • sea salt
  • 2 to 3 tbsp oil

Kimchi Topping

Instructions
 

Kimchi Cheese Sauce

  • Place potatoes, onion, garlic, scallion whites, vegan kimchi, gochugaru, ground turmeric, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cashews, and vegetable oil in a small pot over medium high heat.
    place all ingredients for kimchi cheese sauce in a small pan
  • Next, add the gochujang and stir until all the vegetables are evenly coated.
    Adding gochujang to kimchi cheese sauce
  • Deglaze the pot with the soy sauce and stir.
    deglazing pot with soy sauce
  • Add 1/2 cup water and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and lower the heat to low and let it simmer for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes are fork tender.
    Adding water to pot
  • Add all the contents of the pot to a powerful blender. Add nutritional yeast, kimchi liquid, plant milk, lemon juice, maple syrup. Blend on high until smooth (about 1 minute on a high powered blender).
    Adding all contents of pot and milk to blender.

Baked Fries

  • Preheat your oven to 475° F.
  • Chop the potatoes up into wedges.
    Cut potatoes into wedges
  • Add them to a large pot of salted water.
  • Bring the water to a boil and cook the potatoes for about 15 minutes, until they are chopstick tender.
    Potatoes chopstick tender
  • Add oil to a large baking sheet.
  • Spread the par-boiled potatoes onto the baking sheet so they are not touching. Make sure not to overcrowd the baking sheet.
    Adding potatoes to baking sheet
  • Sprinkle with salt.
    Sprinkling potatoes with salt
  • Place the baking sheet on lowest rack of your oven and bake for 15 minutes, until the bottoms are golden brown. Flip the wedges and bake for an additional 7 minutes, until both sides are golden brown.
    Bake at 475 degrees F

Sweet and Sour Kimchi Topping

  • Add oils to a large pan over medium high heat.
  • Next, add scallion whites, onion, and garlic to the oil and cook until the onions become translucent, about 2 minutes.
    Add onion and garlic to pan
  • Add the kimchi and cook for an additional 1 minute.
    Add kimchi to pan
  • Add gochujang and maple syrup. Stir the vegetables until evenly coated and cook for an additional 3 minutes, until the kimchi is soft.
    Add gochujang to pan
  • Top the baked fries with Kimchi Cheese Sauce, Sweet and Sour Kimchi Topping, sliced avocado, toasted sesame seeds, cracked black pepper, and scallion greens.
    Top the kimchi fries with everything
Keyword baked fries, cheese fries, fries, kimchi, kimchi fries
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EntreesGluten FreeMainsPasta and NoodlesTraditional Korean Recipes

Rice Paper Stuffed Tteokbokki

Stuffed tteokbokki

Rice paper tteokbokki is another “viral” recipe that took the internet by storm several weeks ago, and I mentally catalogued it as something I’d ultimately need to try. Interestingly, rice paper isn’t even made out of rice, something I discovered when making my Ricepop Tofu Nuggets. Rice paper is made out of the pith of the rice paper plant by boiling the tree’s bark. Whoddathunkit, right?

stuffed tteokbokki with cheese

That said, the concept of rice paper tteokbokki makes a ton of sense and is a stroke or brilliance, in my mind. You achieve a very similar texture to garraetteok, which is made out of steamed rice flour. So, why not add the hallmark spicy tteokbokki sauce? I decided to try it out and the results were delicious.

Working with Rice Paper

As I discuss in greater length in the Ricepop Tofu post, you do not need to soak the rice paper for longer than a few seconds, at most. Any more than that, and you will have a really difficult time working with the rice paper. Moreover, here, I would stick two sheets together, in lieu of using only one sheet. I tried making the “tteok”–a cylinder ricecake–using only one sheet of rice paper and it turned out pencil thin. Of course, if you want to try making tteokbokki with pencil thin cakes, go for it! I wanted mine to be a bit more substantial.

how to roll the rice paper

To create even cylinders, I folded the sides of the sheet in so they met in the middle. Then, I rolled from the bottom up.

Stuffing Your Tteok

adding fried seaweed to the rice paper

The fun part about rice paper tteokbokki is that you can stuff them!!! Here is where your creativity can really shine. I decided to stuff mine with some roasted seaweed, vegan cheese (duh), and even some sweet potato vermicelli! You can also stuff them with combinations–like seaweed + vermicelli or seaweed + cheese. When you do stuff them, though, be aware that they will be much thicker than the normal sized tteok you see in tteokbokki.

adding cheese to the rice paper
Stuffed with vegan cheese
adding vermicelli to the rice paper
Stuffed with sweet potato vermicelli
Stuffing rice paper with cheese and seaweed
Stuffed with seaweed and vegan cheese

Creating the Spicy Sauce

The sauce here is fairly simple–I did not add a ton of vegetables like I usually do, only because we’ve already done so much work making the tteok themselves. Plus, they’re stuffed with all sorts of goodies and adding too much to the sauce might overcomplicate things.

I start out by chopping up a red onion (can’t be completely sans vegetables!).

creating the sauce for the tteokbokki

Then, I add vegetable stock to a large and deep pan. Yes, I use vegetable stock instead of water because it’s an opportunity to inject depth of flavor. Why not take it? Finally, I add the usual suspects:

  • Gochugaru
  • Gochujang
  • Soy sauce
  • Sweetener (I used maple syrup)
  • Minced garlic

And that’s it! The quickest, easiest tteokbokki sauce you’ll ever see, without losing out on flavor. Bring that all to a boil and then carefully add your stuffed rice paper cakes. I also added some of my leftover vermicelli (which I highly recommend). Cook them at a boil until the liquid reduces to a thick gravy like consistency (about 10 minutes).

Adding the rice cakes to the sauce

Enjoy!

Quick Tips for Making Stuffed Rice Paper Tteokbokki

  • Do not oversoak your rice paper, as they will become difficult to work with.
  • Double up on the sheets in order to create thicker rice cakes.
  • Stuff the rice cakes with what you like!
  • Use vegetable stock instead of water for your sauce to add depth of flavor.

Rice Paper Stuffed Tteokbokki

The classic Korean street food made out of stuffed rice paper!
4 from 1 vote
Stuffed tteokbokki
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4 people

Ingredients
  

Instructions
 

  • Soak the vermicelli in a large bowl of warm water.
  • Submerge two sheets of rice paper in water for around 2 seconds. Then, place them on a flat surface and allow it to sit for about 30 seconds, at which point they will start to soften.
    Submerge the rice paper sheets in warm water for 2 seconds
  • Fold the sides so that they meet in the center. Then, roll from the bottom up until you have a cylinder.
    how to roll the rice paper
  • Repeat step 2. Then, place some cheese in the center of the sheets. Fold the sides over the cheese and then roll from the bottom up until you have a very fat cylinder.
    adding cheese to the rice paper
  • Repeat same steps for fried seaweed.
    adding fried seaweed to the rice paper
  • Repeat step 2 and place some soaked vermicelli, lengthwise, in the center of the rice paper. Fold the sides over the noodles and roll from the bottom up. In the end, I had 3 cheese stuffed rice cakes, 2 seaweed stuffed rice cakes, and 2 vermicelli stuffed rice cakes (I reserved some vermicelli for the end).
    adding vermicelli to the rice paper
  • To a large pan, add the vegetable stock, soy sauce, gochugaru, gochujang, garlic, and onions and bring the mixture to a boil.
    creating the sauce for the tteokbokki
  • Add the rolled rice sheets and leftover vermicelli to the boiling vegetable stock and cook for about 10 minutes, until the rice cakes are tender and the sauce is thick.
    adding the rice paper cakes and vermicelli to the sauce

Nutrition

Calories: 400kcalCarbohydrates: 80gProtein: 9gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 6mgSodium: 1532mgPotassium: 225mgFiber: 4gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 882IUVitamin C: 5mgCalcium: 78mgIron: 3mg
Keyword rice paper, tteokbokki
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Stuffed Tteokbokki starts at 4:35
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EntreesGluten FreeMains

Ricepop (Ricepaper) Tofu

I sometimes get nervous about creating addictive recipes because the last thing I need is to add yet another item in my life that requires restraint, but, then, I realize, YOLO (“you only live once” for those who are not fluent in Gen Z speak), right? These Ricepop Tofu nuggets are among my most addictive creations, I daresay we all might need to be carted to rehab together.

I made these the other day, and was able to stave off from eating the whole lot of them in one sitting. But alas, they were waiting for me when I woke up in the morning so what else could I do? I ate them for breakfast with my morning Americano and my GOD, they were just as good as the night before. Perhaps not as crunchy, but now chewy in a way that was just as pleasant.

Twice Frozen & Pressed Tofu

Look, I wish there were an easier way, but if there is, I haven’t discovered it. If you want chewy, chicken-like texture out of your tofu, you need to freeze it until it turns into a brick of ice, thaw it, press it, and then do it all over again. It’s a pain in the butt, to be honest, BUT THE RESULTS ARE WELL WORTH IT TRUST ME. Why is this required?

Chewy texture of tofu after it's been twice frozen and pressed to create jagged irregular pieces

Think of your regular old non-frozen store-bought tofu like a big sponge. What are sponges made out of? Fibrous tissue and holes. It’s those holes that allow the sponge to suck up and hold all the liquid. In the case of tofu, the reason it’s so “jiggly” is because it already holds a lot of liquid, which is why you see so many recipes telling you to “press” the tofu (i.e., add pressure to it to squeeze its already existing liquid out). But what happens when you freeze the liquid already in the tofu, in lieu of simply pressing it out? The ice expands, creating empty pockets within the protein to hold more flavor. More interestingly, it appears that the expulsion of liquid from the tofu through the creation of ice crystals catalyzes a “protein to protein” interaction, which likely explains the much “meatier” texture of frozen/thawed/pressed tofu.

Pressing out the last of the liquid in the twice frozen, thawed, and pressed tofu

Lest I start to nerd out a bit too much for you all in this food blog, I’ll leave it that on the science and go back to the method. After your second thaw and press, I pressed out even more liquid simply by adding my own weight to the process. Afterwards, in lieu of using my knife to cut the tofu up into popcorn pieces, I simply pulled it apart to create jagged irregular pieces. Why? This allows the Spice Rub (up next) to “catch” onto the tofu, to ensure maximum flavor.

use your hands to create chunks in stead of knife for tofu

The Spice Rub

You see, here’s the secret to this recipe. The Spice Rub. If you try and make this recipe without adding some flavor to the tofu, you’ll get TONS of CRONCH, but it’ll taste as bland as tofu water. I don’t recommend trying tofu water (though, I hear it works as an aquafaba!). I originally thought about simply taking one of my leftover ramyeon broth packets (you all can do this, because you are not a foodblogger) and using that to flavor my tofu. But, then I remembered that I’m supposed to develop recipes that everyone can make, not just those folks blessed enough to live next to a Korean grocery store (the only place you can purchase decent vegan Shin ramyeon).

Spice rub mix for the tofu nuggets

So, here’s what goes into this amazing Spice Rub:

  • Gochugaru
  • Nutritional yeast
  • Smoke paprika
  • Ground turmeric
  • Dried oregano
  • Garlic powder
  • Salt

Once I added it to the tofu, I literally could have just eaten it raw. It was that good.

Rice Paper Wrapping

Look, we’ve all seen the viral TikTok videos of people making “chips” out of rice paper. The idea is that the rice paper is so thin, it reacts with the oil to create this mind-bogglingly crunchy texture. So, if you really want to make the crunchiest anything, why not try wrapping it rice paper?

Dip the rice paper in water for only a second or two.
Place the tofu chunk in the middle.

One trick to working with rice paper is that you don’t need to soak it in water for very long. Just dip it in warm water for a second or two, cut it in half, and then let it sit. It’ll start to soften within a minute or two and any longer than that, you’ll find yourself in a very sticky situation. Accordingly, drop that tofu chunk into the center of your half-sheet, wrap, and roll. Make sure you do fold in the sides before rolling; otherwise, the rice paper will pop and the oil will leak in and burn the your spice rub and tofu.

Tofu should be tightly wrapped.

The “Pop” of Rice Paper

When subjected to intense heat, rice paper will immediately bubble and pop. That is what facilitates the other-worldly crunch. Accordingly, when you drop the tofu nuggets in, make sure to guard against adding too many. They will expand immediately and if they touch each other, they will have a tendency to stick. While you can try prying them part once they’ve cooked, doing so will risk tearing the wrapping.

Do not overcrowd the pan.

I found that it took quite a bit longer than expected to get the rice paper to start browning, so be patient. It took me about 10 minutes before I fished them out of the pan. Afterwards, I loaded them up into a small bowl to make it truly look like a mountain of glory and my goodness, were they ever glorious.

I served them with my Vegan Spicy Mayo and I was in heaven. Truly.

The crunch was unreal. The texture of the tofu like nothing I’d ever tasted (except for chicken!). And the flavor from the Spice Rub attending every single bite.

Addictive indeed.

Meaty texture of tofu.

Quick Tips for Making Ricepop Tofu

  • Twice freeze, thaw, and press your tofu. Just pressing your extra firm tofu will not achieve the desired texture (thought, it’ll probably still taste really good, tbh).
  • Do not oversoak your rice paper sheets. They will turn gummy and sticky very quickly and become impossible to work with. Just a second or two in warm water is more than enough.
  • Make sure to fold the sides in when wrapping and rolling your tofu. Otherwise, you will have holes in your wrapping which will cause your nuggets to burn.
  • Do not overcrowd your pan. The rice paper likes to stick to itself, so if the nuggets touch, they’ll stick together and you might end up tearing the wrapping.

Ricepop (Ricepaper) Tofu

The CRUNCHIEST tofu you've EVER had. And guess what–it taste just like chicken!
4.67 from 3 votes
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4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 16 oz box extra firm tofu
  • 1 tbsp gochugaru
  • 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • 1 tbsp garlic powder
  • 1 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
  • 20 sheets rice paper
  • oil for frying

Instructions
 

  • Place your tofu in the freezer overnight. Then, thaw the tofu. Once it has thawed, press the tofu (i.e., place the tofu on a kitchen towel and weigh it down with heavy items like cookbooks or pots and pans) for about 20 minutes. Then, place the tofu in the freezer again for at least 6 hours. Thaw and press.
  • Create the spice mix by stirring together the gochugaru, nutritional yeast, paprika, garlic powder, dried oregano, salt, and ground turmeric.
    Spice rub mix for the tofu nuggets
  • Pull the tofu apart into irregular chunks and place them in a large bowl.
    use your hands to create chunks in stead of knife for tofu
  • Add the spice mix to the bowl and stir the tofu chunks around so they are evenly coated.
  • Slide a sheet of rice paper in a large bowl of water and let it sit for about 2 seconds. Then place the rice paper on a flat surface and cut in half with kitchen shears.
    Dip the rice paper in water for only a second or two.
  • Add a tofu chunk to the center of the rice paper and let it sit until it becomes fairly soft.
    Place the tofu chunk in the middle.
  • Wrap the tofu chunk with the rice paper by bringing the bottom up, folding the sides in, and then rolling it until you create a little "tofu package." Repeat for the remaining tofu and set them aside, making sure they don't touch each other (they stick!).
    Tofu should be tightly wrapped.
  • Heat a pan of oil (about 3 inches deep) to about 350° F. Add the wrapped tofu to the oil and let them cook until they get slightly browned (about 10 minutes). Do not overcrowd the pan, as the tofu will stick to each other.
    Fry for about 10 minutes.
  • Serve with Vegan Spicy Mayo.
Keyword popcorn tofu, rice paper, tofu
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Mains

Vegan Korean Fried “Chicken”

chicken fried mushroom

Ok, look. This isn’t the traditional “Korean fried chicken.” It isn’t fried with potato starch or glazed with a spicy sauce. However, this isn’t a traditional American “fried chicken” either (or “Kentucky fried chicken?”). It’s fried “chicken” with a Korean twist, if you will, like so much of my food. It’s really just a byproduct of a lack of impulse control. I can’t help adding Korean-y things to my food.

But, I thought you were vegan?

Now, let’s get something out of the way. This isn’t actually chicken. I would think that’d be obvious, but I can understand why the photo above might have you second guessing. Actually, when you taste this dish, you will think you’re hallucinating. That’s how good this recipe actually is. What are we using then? Seitan? TVP? Gardein? Nope. We are using the humble mushroom.

The Oyster Mushroom

The oyster mushroom, to be specific. These are sometimes referred to as “king oyster mushrooms” because they are big enough to span well beyond the size of a large hand. Why are they called “oyster” mushrooms? Well, I always thought it was because they smelled kind of seafood-y to me, but, in fact, they derived their name from their appearance. Their caps resemble oysters. Oyster mushrooms are a good source of vitamin D, protein, fiber, potassium, vitamin B6 and folate and can be found at most Asian grocery stores and farmers markets. The thing I LOVE about oyster mushrooms for this recipe are all the nooks and crannies. The irregular shape of the mushroom provide “hooks” for the breading, so that it doesn’t just slide right off when you dredge the mushrooms. This ensures a delightful crunch with each and every bite.

The Marinate & Dredge

This is the new hot dance move on TikTok.

Just kidding.

In order to maximize the flavor of the “chicken,” I created a slightly unusual marinade that would not only tenderize the mushrooms (a bit), but also infuse it with a lovely umami before it was doused in flour. We add some lemon juice to the soy milk to create our buttermilk, but then, we also hit it with a little soy sauce. AHA!! BETCHA DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING!

In the picture, I came up with this inspired bit of brilliance after I’d added the mushrooms, but you can add it before with the lemon juice.

In keeping with the theme, in lieu of paprika, I added gochugaru to my dredging mix, to give my “chicken” an extra kick.

Once you’ve finished mixing together all the dredge ingredients, coat the mushrooms in the dredge, making sure they are packed well with the mixture. Next, drop them into a pot of hot oil and cook them until both sides are crunchy and golden brown.

Quick Tips for Making Vegan Korean Fried “Chicken”

  • Make sure to buy king oyster mushrooms and I left the stems intact. Some people say they are tough and chewy, but they turned out great for this recipe. Just make sure to clean the mushrooms with a damp towel.
  • Allow the mushrooms to marinate for at least 5 minutes in the vegan buttermilk mixture, so they have some time to really absorb some of the flavors and grow tender.
  • When dredging, make sure to really pack it in–you want the mixture to get into all those hard to reach places, because doing so will create more surface area for the breading.
  • When frying, do not overcrowd the pan–it will make the “chicken” less crunchy and take forever to cook.

Vegan Korean Fried “Chicken”

An alternative to regular fried chicken for anyone who wants all the flavor without the meat! Whether you're vegan or just like food, this is an absolute CROWD PLEASER!!
4.72 from 7 votes
chicken fried mushroom
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5 pieces

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup soy milk
  • 1/2 lemon
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 5 pieces king oyster mushroom
  • Oil, for frying

Spicy Dredging Mix

Instructions
 

  • Squeeze half a lemon into your soy milk, along with the soy sauce. This is your vegan buttermilk.
  • Clean your mushrooms. Place them in the vegan buttermilk and set it aside.
  • Mix together all the dredging ingredients.
    dredge mix
  • Heat your oil to about 350°F. If you don't have a thermometer, drop a panko crumb into the oil and if it immediately bobs to the surface, your oil is ready to cook in.
  • When your oil is hot, take a mushroom piece covered in vegan buttermilk and drop it into the dredging bowl. Make sure to pack the dredging mix into the mushroom. Then gently shake off any excess before dropping it carefully into the hot oil.
  • Add more pieces without crowding your pan. Cook each piece until both sides are deep golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Remove from oil and gently shake off any excess oil.
Keyword fried chicken, fried mushrooms, korean fried chicken
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MainsPasta and NoodlesSoups, Stews, and Side DishesTraditional Korean Recipes

Kimchi Soondooboo Jeongol

Whenever you go to a Korean restaurant, there will be a section of the menu that’s devoted to hot pots or “jeongols.” They are cooked at the table and are designed to be shared by the table. I always loved getting budae jeongol (a large budae chigae) with my family or friends, so that I could have a bowl of stew with my rice and whatever “entree” I ordered. While most jeongols are “meat-centric,” I wanted to make something that was tofu forward, because I love silken tofu so much. I also had a jar of leftover kimchi that was just aching to be used, so I thought I’d revisit my epic kimchi-soondooboo mashup and make it jeongol style.

Think of this recipe as a mix between soondooboo and kimchi and budae chigae. You start out by infusing the oils (I used both olive oil and sesame oil) with some aromatics: onions, scallions, garlic, and gochugaru. Remember, watch the gochugaru so it doesn’t burn. If the gochugaru starts to turn brown, you will have a brown and bitter stew.

I add a healthy amount of kimchi. Now, for non-vegan kimchi, I always had to wait until the kimchi was super stinky. The thing is, vegan kimchi doesn’t really get that stinky (thanks to the elimination of fish sauce). So, in lieu of using smell as my guide for when kimchi is good for stewing, I just let the kimchi sit in my fridge for at least a week before adding it to my soup.

The other thing I like to add to my kimchi chigae (or stew) is gochujang. Some people don’t add any gochujang to their kimchi chigae, but I find that it adds a lovely deep smokiness and a hint of sweetness to my kimchi chigae. The thing with any stew, of course, is about developing layers of flavor. That’s why we start out with the aromatics, add the kimchi, and then hit it all with some gochujang–fermented soybean chili paste.

To ensure the broth is velvety and lovely, I like to use a good vegetable broth. If I don’t have any of my own on hand, I’ll just store bought. If you don’t have broth, you can, of course, use water. But, in my opinion, using a vegetable broth (one that you like) makes a humongous difference in flavor and consistency.

Finally, add the silken tofu. I always get asked “what are those white jiggly things?” when I make soondoboo chigae. “Soondooboo” means silken tofu (“dooboo” literally means tofu). Silken tofu tastes a lot like plain yogurt, only a little bit firmer and no real sourness. It’s a very bland flavor, but has the ability to take on the flavors around it. A lot of folks use silken tofu for their smoothies or as an egg replacer, but I’ve always just enjoyed the taste and texture of silken tofu, without using it as a stand-in for something else.

After adding the silken tofu, you get to have some fun! I took inventory of my freezer and fridge and picked a few things I wanted to add–ricecakes (the kind you use for tteokbokki), some dumplings, and some fresh noodles (the ones I didn’t use when I accidentally made tofu fettuccini). I grabbed a handful of fresh enoki mushrooms that I only just started falling in love with, before heading back to my pot. I also had a bag of frozen corn that I almost dumped into the stew, but decided I didn’t want to go overboard (literally–didn’t want to have my stew spilling over the edge!).

And then you just bring everything to a boil and let it do it’s thing for a few minutes, until the noodles are cooked, the ricecakes are soft, and the dumplings are not longer frozen.

Here are a few quick tips:

  • Keep an eye on your gochugaru, to make sure it doesn’t burn. Your stew should be a bright orange color–not brown. If it’s brown, that means you burned the gochugaru in the beginning, which will make it bitter.
  • Make sure to reserve some kimchi juice to add to the stew for extra kimchi flavor.
  • Use vegetable broth (homemade or store bought) in favor of water, for a richer and more dynamic flavor.
  • Use both gochujang and soy sauce to build multiple layers of flavor.
  • Do not overcook the stew–once the noodles and rice cakes are fully cooked, start eating. Otherwise, the kichi will become soggy and not fun. 🙁
  • Make this recipe gluten free by using gluten free soy sauce and gluten free gochujang.

Kimchi Soondooboo Jeongol

A Korean silken tofu hotpot!
5 from 2 votes
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4 people

Ingredients
  

Instructions
 

  • Add 1 tbsp of olive oil and sesame oil in a large pan over medium high heat.
  • Add onions, scallions, and garlic and sautee until they become translucent, about 3 minutes. Add gochugaru and cook for 30 seconds.
  • Add kimchi, zucchini, and gochujang, and stir until vegetables are evenly coated with sauce. Add soy sauce and vegetable broth, together with kimchi juice.
  • Spoon the silken tofu into the broth in chunks.
  • Add the ricecakes, dumplings, noodles, and enoki mushrooms. Bring the soup up to a boil and continue cooking at a gentle boil until the ricecakes are soft and the noodles are cooked.
  • Garnish with scallion greens before serving.

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