This recipe is full of fresh veggies, quinoa, and tofu, making these Korean Barbecue Tofu Bowls a complete vegan meal in a convenient bowl.
Making Your Own Recipes
When I first got into cooking years ago, I followed recipes to a T and never deviated from them. Then, I started making changes as I began to get a sense of what worked and what didn't. Once I became comfortable with that, I took the leap into developing my own recipes. One of the tools that helped me to do that is The Flavor Bible
People like to think there are no rules when it comes to cooking, but there are rules. There are flavors that go together and flavors that don't—when you don't respect that, you end up with recipes for red velvet jalapeño cupcakes filled with truffle-scented chocolate ganache topped with frizzled leeks and candied kumquat rind. Using 20 different mismatched flavors in a recipe doesn't make you gourmet, it makes you a bad cook.
When I first started developing recipes, that was the kind of recipe I felt like I had to make. It was The Flavor Bible that helped me rein myself in—it made me realize that by working within a set of guidelines, I could be even more creative and develop stronger recipes. It's much harder to develop a solid 8-ingredient dish than something with 40 ingredients and 3 hours prep time. No book gets more use in my kitchen than this one, so when I found out Karen Page came out with The Vegetarian Flavor Bible
The Vegetarian Flavor Bible
If you're vegetarian and you love to experiment in the kitchen and you could only purchase one cookbook for yourself this year, it should be this one. It's more of a reference than a cookbook and you will find yourself referring to it constantly. The book starts with a timeline of vegetarian history and a write-up about vegetarian cooking (which includes a very useful "If you are craving this, try this instead" chart), but the "meat" of the book is the flavor matchmaking list section. The former librarian in me gets very excited about these lists! Don't know what to do with the daikon radish you picked up at the Japanese market? The Vegetarian Flavor Bible suggests baking, braising and roasting, among other methods, and pairing it with mirin, lime, maple syrup and other root vegetables like carrots and potatoes.
About the Recipe
If you look up tofu, you see that it pairs well with garlic, ginger, rice vinegar, sesame oil and soy sauce, Korean cuisine, red bell peppers and zucchini, which brings us to this Korean Barbecue Tofu Bowl. It might not be frizzled leeks on a cupcake, but the flavors work together in a way that's bound to make your belly happy. I adapted the sauce from a recipe on the Cooking Channel website and a tip I saw in Cooking Light that suggested substituting miso and sriracha in recipes that called for gochujang, which I didn't have on hand. I paired the barbecue tofu with a simple stir fry, quinoa and fresh cabbage—feel free to substitute your favorite vegetables in the stir fry and any grain you like for the quinoa.
Photos by Emily Caruso
Recipe
Ingredients
For the sauce:
- ½ cup ketchup
- ½ cup rice vinegar
- ¼ cup tamari or soy sauce
- 1 ½ tbsp white sugar (organic for vegan-friendly)
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 tsp yellow miso
- 1 tsp sriracha
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 2 green onions thinly sliced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 1-inch piece ginger, grated
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
For the bowls:
- 2 tbsp sesame oil or any neutral flavored, high-heat cooking oil, divided
- 1 crown broccoli broken into florets
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 medium zucchini sliced into half moons
- 1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
- 1 red pepper cored and sliced
- 1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
- 1 15 oz package extra-firm tofu, pressed for 30 minutes and cut into 1-inch cubes
- cooked quinoa shredded red cabbage, sliced green onions, and sesame seeds, for serving
Instructions
To make the sauce:
- Whisk together all of the ingredients except the sesame oil in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- When the mixture comes to a simmer, reduce heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes, or until slightly thickened—it should be thinner than regular barbecue sauce, but thicker than teriyaki sauce.
- Stir in the oil and set aside.
To make the bowls:
- Heat 1 tablespoon of sesame oil in a large non-stick skillet or wok over medium-high heat.
- Add the broccoli and stir fry for 1 minute.
- Carefully add the water to the skillet and cover; let the broccoli steam for about 2 minutes, until bright green and tender.
- Add the zucchini, pineapple, red pepper and soy sauce to the skillet. Cook, stirring constantly, 3–5 minutes more, or until all the vegetables are tender-crisp.
- Divide the vegetables into 4 bowls and wipe the skillet clean with a paper towel.
- Return the skillet to medium-high heat. Add the remaining sesame oil and swirl to coat, then add the tofu. Cook the tofu until lightly browned and crisp on all sides, turning occasionally, 8–10 minutes.
- Pour ½ cup of the sauce over the tofu and toss to coat; cook 2 minutes more, until sauce has thickened and the tofu is coated.
- Divide the tofu into the bowls, then add the quinoa and red cabbage. Drizzle with the remaining sauce and garnish with sliced green onions and sesame seeds.
Nutrition
Disclosure: I received a copy of The Vegetarian Flavor Bible to review. The Amazon links in this post are affiliate links.
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com says
This is a delicious bowl! Love the flavors going on for the tofu 🙂
Erin says
This looks amazing!! Also, so color and beautiful!! I might have to give it a try!!
Krista says
I adore Korean food and tofu! Definitely going to make this soon!
Cara's Healthy Cravings says
I'm grabbing the kimchi! I am pretty sure this recipe was made for me, it's my ideal meal. Thanks!
Brian @ Kitchen Domination says
When you cook your quinoa, do you just use water or do you use broth or another more flavorful liquid?
NELLY says
I JUST USE PLAIN WATER WHEN I MAKE QUINOA
Kristen @ The Endless Meal says
This looks amazing! Love all the colours. 🙂
Nina at focusedonfit.com says
This bowl looks amazing - so colorful and appetizing! Plus with all those veggies and tofu, this is packed with protein, carbs and minimal fat. Super healthy, a great alternative to fattening takeout! #healthytakeout
Happy Hazel says
Wow. Looks so delicious! Getting full just by looking at it. 🙂 Thank you for sharing! <3
Amy says
I know not everyone has access to this, but use Korean gochujang sauce instead of sriracha. It will give it more of a distinct "korean" flavor. It should be available in most asian sections of larger grocery stores.
Emma {Emma's Little Kitchen} says
*drooling*
[email protected] says
All those beautiful colors and that SAUCE! I am so in!
Lynn | The Road to Honey says
What a beautifully colorful dish. I'm in the beginning stages of playing around with recipes so fully appreciate the two references that you mention.
Cory says
WOW this was REALLY good!!
Have you ever had Curryketchup?Please make a tofu recipe with that.It is the best!
Rachel says
I made this for dinner tonight, and it was wonderful! We substituted bok choy for pineapple and added thinly sliced red onion. That sauce is really delicious. Thanks!
Joanne says
I have The Flavor Bible and use it all the time!! Definitely one of the better cookbook purchases I've made in the past year. Next up...need to get The Vegetarian Flavor Bible into my collection! I mean, if it inspired this korean bbq bowl, then it's a must have.
Natasha says
I loved this meal. My tofu hating husband cleaned his bowl too. This was fantastic! Thanks for the great recipe. I love the mix of sweet/sour/spicy. mmmmmm.
Grrreat says
I made this last night and it was so good! Thanks for posting. It never occurred to me to sub quinoa for rice, but it's a delicious alternative. Also, this sauce is really good. Definitely don't skip it.
Alice @ Hip Foodie Mom says
Hi Kiersten! just stumbled on this! first off, what a gorgeous BBQ tofu bowl! 🙂 I love it! what made the cooking channel's sauce "Korean" is the gochujang, when you just use ketchup, I'd call this an Asian BBQ tofu bowl . . the gochujang is key for it to be Korean. can't wait to try thisI I love all the veggies and beautiful shredded red cabbage on top! My kinda bowl! 🙂
Kiersten Frase says
I realize that, but most grocery stores don't carry gochujang, so I used the sriracha/miso substitution to make shopping for the recipe a little bit easier.
Guy says
Made this tonight and it came out fantastic.
Great recipe and looked brilliant and colorful on the table!
Sauce was great and the quinoa made a great addition.
Donna says
This looks so beautiful! Will definitely be trying this one this week
alana says
I think ketchup is vile: can you suggest a substitute? Is the role its playing here a sweetener, or something else?
Sue Donnenwirth says
Your Korean BBQ Tofu Bowl looks great! I am going to try. I am wondering if you ever post with nutrition facts with your recipes? This one maybe.
Thanks for your time.
Sue
Dee says
I'm a big fan of bowls-I appreciate the substitution for gochujang, which hasn't made it to my smaller town as yet. On the menu for this week-thanks!
Christine GW says
That photo is so gorgeous. The bowl is like a work of art!
Emma {Emma's Little Kitchen} says
I am SWOONING over this one, it looks absolutely delectable Kiersten! I have never tried Korean BBQ sauce, but I will be testing the waters soon!