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Happy Thursday everyone,
I hope that you are all doing really well today. I feel like this week flew by and I didn’t have a chance to really breathe in between, but that’s okay. At least when I’m really busy I have less time to think or get into my head about how things are going right now. We are about 60 followers away from hitting our follower goal for April on the cooking show, so if you haven’t already, go follow! It is a great way to interact and really get your recipes made too!
Korea has one of the oldest continuously running street food industries in the world. Although there have been a few countries (and royals) that wanted to make sure that it went away, the Korean People found a way to keep it going. I find that super interesting.
It originated in the 15th century as a way to feed travelers and wanderers who were coming to the major cities and villages to trade. Most of the foods that they made were things that were easy to travel with and wouldn’t waste much time eating. Money is time and why waste it when you’re trying to get something done. (I mean that’s how we think now a days right?)
The Royalty of the time started getting jealous of all the foods being made and it is rumored that they would sneak out to go get the extravagant and often foreign foods that were being offered at the markets. But once the rumor got out that Royals were eating at the markets, the prices of the food started to go up and it hindered it for a little bit, eventually stabilizing right before Japan invaded and tried to completely conquer in the early 1900s.
Japan made street vendors illegal for a very long time. Japan really wanted to completely take over Korea and what they did, which we will talk about more in the next couple of weeks. But after the Korean War, the people of Korea went straight back to their stalls and sold what they could with what they were given.
The food had to be affordable because Korea had lost so much, most of the time what they would sell would be things they were given or what was stolen from camps in order to be able to feed as many people as they possibly could.
Today the Korean Street Food markets have spread outside of Korea and many people can enjoy them, but because of the popularity, most major cities that have Korean Street Food are up-charging, making it royalty food once again. I promise you, you can find the amazing food…it just not be what’s on trend right now! 😉
So, since I am not eating chicken, but I was really craving Korean Fried Chicken, I wondered if I could make it from tofu and get the same satisfaction that I get from the chicken. I actually got more satisfaction!
One of my biggest tips when working with tofu, which is my main choice of protein, is that you should boil it in heavily salted water. I know that it sounds counter productive, but it actually firms up the inside very well!
Other than that, enjoy this recipe, it’s fun to make and even more fun to eat!
Korean Fried Tofu
Items Needed
Deep frying pan
Metal sieve or metal slotted spoon
Large mixing bowl
Whisk or fork
Medium mixing bowl
Medium sized stock pot
Measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients Needed
Tofu
16 oz firm tofu; ripped apart
4 cups of water
3 pinches of salt
3 cups of tempura powder
1/2-1 cup of water (pay attention to how watery the batter is)
1 tbs gochugaru
½ tbs garlic powder
1 pinch of salt
3 cups of oil (I do sunflower oil because it is not heavy tasting)
Sauce
2 tbs gochujang
1 tbs gochugaru
½ tbs garlic powder
2 tbs ketchup
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
3 tbs brown sugar
Sesame seeds for topping
Directions
Over a medium high heat, put stock pot, 4 cups water, 3 pinches of salt over medium heat until it starts to boil
Add tofu; boil for 5 minutes, then drain
Heat frying pan and oil over medium high heat until the oil is 350ºF or it starts to bubble a little
In a mixing bowl mix tempura powder, water, gochugaru, garlic powder and salt
Coat tofu and fry in the frying pan until golden brown (about 8 minutes)
In the medium sized mixing bowl mix the gochujang, gochugaru, garlic powder, ketchup, sesame oil, vinegar, and brown sugar until it’s a paste
As the tofu finishes cooking coat while still warm and put on the plate you’re going to serve it on
Top with the sesame seeds
If you want to join us live while we talk about the history and we really deep dive into the world of food, make sure that you go follow our Cooking Show or you can follow along for reruns on our Youtube!
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Thank you so much for following along! We will be putting up American Street Food history tomorrow, which is very similar, but way darker. Our country has never really liked women or immigrants to have the same opportunities as other people.
-momnoms
I absolutely loved this episode and the food. I have made it again in the 2 weeks that it has been since we filmed this episode. It is honestly the best ‘meat replacement’ that I have made myself.