Good morning. I can hawk recipes in this space, but I don’t always use them. That’s especially true in the middle of the week, when I’m caught up in the realities of a working life and don’t have a moment to flip through our app. Time creeps up on me, and suddenly it occurs to me that food needs to be made.
What’s in the fridge? I flick through the shelves as if I’m shopping in a not-so-stocked store, then wait for the muse to settle on my shoulder. Recently, that led to a dinner of bulgogi-style tofu (above). It was an over-the-counter recipe, which meant I cooked it on the fly, like you could tonight.
The process is simple: Wrap a block of firm tofu in a clean kitchen towel and place on a rimmed plate with something heavy on top to squeeze out the water. Make a marinade: soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, minced garlic, grated ginger, a spoonful of gochujang, a drizzle of neutral oil, some chopped scallions and toasted sesame seeds. Then cut the tofu into cubes and add it to the marinade. Let that sit for 30 minutes or more if you have the time. Toast the cubes on an oil-lined pan in a hot oven until crisp.
And then serve them with bibb lettuce cups to make little packets with rice, kimchi and a dipping sauce of ssamjang and a little more gochujang diluted with neutral oil and a splash of sherry vinegar. Leave out any ingredients you don’t have, and add those you want to add because of taste or necessity.