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The Korean Vegan

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MainsTraditional Korean Recipes

Spicy & Crunchy Garlic Tofu (Kkanpoong Tofu)

Why Did I Veganize This Dish?

I came up with this Spicy & Crunchy Garlic Tofu recipe because it needed to happen. Like, there was a gaping maw in the universe that could only be filled once this recipe was created.

Ok, putting to one side my illusions of grandeur, let’s just say that this recipe was borne out nostalgia. Growing up, my family and I would go to this Korean-Chinese restaurant in K-Town called Great Seas. Great Seas was absolutely famous for its chicken wings, or Kkanpoongi. Their walls were covered in photos of happy dinners who set and broke the “how many wings can you eat in one sitting” challenge, and it was no secret why. Their sauce was so good, it was jarred, labeled, and sold by the gallon. My family would go to Great Seas for all sorts of special occasions—birthdays, graduations, the day after a juice fast. When I went vegan, I knew I would basically never be able to eat anything at Great Seas again, so I set out to veganize it. And boy, was I ELATED with the results!

Put simply, this is literally the BEST EVER tofu recipe I’ve ever made and I’m pretty sure it’ll be the same for you!

My Tricks For Making This Recipe.

  • Make sure to press your extra firm tofu to remove excess liquid. This will ensure your tofu chunks are nice and crunchy.
  • Use potato starch in lieu of corn starch or flour to not only keep this dish gluten free, but to make your tofu extra crispy.
  • Use my favorite gluten free soy sauce in order to keep this entire recipe gluten free!
  • Use vegetable oil in lieu of extra virgin olive oil in order to ratchet up the heat.
  • Make sure not to allow the crunchy tofu bites to sit in the sauce too long before serving—the longer they sit in the sauce, the softer they will become.
  • Serve with rice and water—this dish is SPICY!!

Other dishes to try:

  • RABOKKI
  • OMMA’S GAMJA JORIM (BRAISED POTATOES)
  • EASY PEASY PANZANELLA

Spicy & Crunchy Garlic Tofu (Kkanpoong Tofu)

5 from 2 votes
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Ingredients
  

  • 1 16 ounce block extra firm tofu pressed and chopped into 1/2 inch bite sized chunks
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 Tablespoons potato starch plus 1 extra teaspoon
  • 7 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/4 red onion diced
  • 2 Korean green chilis, sliced can sub seeded jalapenos
  • 2 whole scallions white parts chopped, green parts sliced on a bias
  • 1 Tablespoon gochagaru
  • 1-1 1/2 Tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
  • 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1/2 Tablespoon mirin can leave out if you don't have any
  • 4+1 Tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1/8 cup dried red chilis can leave out if you don't have any
  • 1/2 Tablespoon sesame oil
  • 1 Tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Instructions
 

  • To a large bowl, add a pinch of salt and 2 tablespoons of potato starch to tofu chunks. Gently toss the tofu to make sure they are all evenly coated. Set aside.
  • Prep your vegetables by mincing the garlic, dicing the onion, slicing the Korean chilis, and chopping up the scallions.
  • Prepare the sauce by mixing together gochugaru, soy sauce, white wine vinegar, maple syrup, mirin, and 1 teaspoon of potato starch. Set aside.
  • To a very large non-stick pan, add 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil over high heat. When oil is very hot, add coated tofu chunks in one layer,making sure they are not touching each other. If they touch, they will stick to one another.
  • Cook the tofu and flip them one by one, until they are brown on all sides (approximately 7 minutes). Remove the tofu chunks from the pan and set them aside on a cooling rack to drain the excess oil. Repeat with the remaining tofu.
  • When all of the tofu has been fried, in the same pan, add 1 tablespoon of oil. Then add the garlic, onions, chilis, and scallions and saute the vegetables until the garlic starts to brown.
  • Reduce the heat to medium-high and add the sauce, stirring it with a wooden spoon until it reduces down into a thick sauce (approximately 30 seconds). Turn off the heat.
  • Gently add back the fried tofu and stir everything together, so that the tofu chunks are evenly coated in your sauce.
  • Garnish the tofu with ½ tablespoon of sesame oil and 1 tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds. Serve immediately.
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Spicy & Crunchy Garlic Tofu (Kkanpoong Tofu) was last modified: November 15th, 2020 by the.krn.vegan@gmail.com
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I veganize Korean food. I Koreanize everything else.

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The Korean Vegan, Esq.
This is one of my earlier TikTok videos, back when This is one of my earlier TikTok videos, back when this sandwich was on trend. Reposting it because sometimes I need to listen to my own advice. ❤️
Advice from 고모: Heartbreak. Advice from 고모: Heartbreak.
Earlier today, I watched a video of a white man en Earlier today, I watched a video of a white man encourage his 3 year old son to “make fun of his Asian uncle” by pulling the corners of his eyes back into slits.  When confronted by a number of Asians explaining how offensive the video was, he grew defensive, claiming it was “just a little fun.”
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Several years ago, someone asked me what the big deal was about white people making fun of my eyes.  He claimed, “people make fun of my appearance all the time, I guess I’m just not as sensitive as you.” Being bullied for one’s appearance is always wrong and can definitely be traumatic no matter what. But when that appearance is tied to your ethnicity, and when that ethnicity is outnumbered, that kind of bullying can take on a different level of harm. If someone makes fun of my nose, I may spend the rest of my life hating my nose. But if someone makes fun of my eyes—an attribute tied to my Koreanness—then I not only hate my eyes, I also hate my Koreanness.
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Bottom line, I never thought that in 2021, I’d have to explain why making “Asian eyes” to an Asian is offensive, inappropriate, and insensitive.  But apparently, it’s a message that continues to be in demand. In lieu of yelling at people, though, I thought I’d just share a story.
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Finally, a couple translations: “Dominick’s Language” is what I used to call English, because it was the gibberish my Dad spoke at the grocery store. “Sohknehbok” is Korean underclothing, something my grandmother made me wear in summer, lol, because she was always afraid I would catch my death.
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You can find the recipe for Tteokbokki (or its popular sister recipe, Rabokki) on my blog.
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