Vegan Bibimbap with Tofu – if you ignore the eggs

This vegan bibimbap (Korean mixed rice) is colorful, flavorful, nutritious, and super easy to prepare.

Top the hot steamed rice with pan fried tofu, fresh vegetables, sweet and spicy Korean bibimbap sauce, and optionally a slightly runny egg, you can get a well-balanced dinner and a delicious work day lunch bento ready all at once.

EQUIPMENT

• 1 frying pan

• 1 Sauce Pot

INGREDIENTS  

• 1½ cups short grain white rice
• 12 oz firm tofu
• 1 carrot (medium-sized)
• 4 fresh shiitake mushrooms
• 1 zucchini (medium-sized)
• 4 cups baby spinach (Baby spinach will shrink a lot after blanched.)
• 2 cups bean sprouts
• 8 slices danmuji (Click to see my danmuji recipe)
• ½ cup kimchi (Click to see my kimchi recipe)
• 4 eggs (1 egg per serving. I used some quail eggs. Skip the egg if you are vegan.)

Other seasonings

• Soy sauce (For seasoning the tofu and shiitake mushrooms.)
• Mirin (For seasoning the tofu and shiitake mushrooms.)
• Sugar
• Salt 
• Sesame oil (Optional, for seasoning the baby spinach and bean sprouts.)
• Bibimbap sauce

How to Cook Perfect Rice for bibimbap

You can cook perfect rice with a saucepan or a rice cooker:

1. Measure and put 1½ cup of short grain white rice into a fine strainer, rinse it in cold water for about 20 seconds.

2. Drain the rice, place it in a saucepan, add 2¼ cup of water to the saucepan. Allow the rice to soak for 30 minutes in the cold water. While soaking, the rice will absorb water, which allows it to be cooked faster and becomes softer.

3. Place the saucepan over high heat, cover with its lid, bring to a boil.

4. Once boiling, reduce to low heat, simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until there is no steam releasing from the lid. Remove the pot from the heat, allow the rice to sit for about 10 minutes before opening the lid.

5. Open the lid, gently mix the rice with a rice paddle. This step helps the rice to release extra moisture. Put the lid back on to keep the rice from drying out.

How to cook pan fried tofu for making vegan bibimbap

1. Take a block of frim/extra frim tofu from the packaging. Place a cooling rack or a slotted board over a large plate. Place the tofu block on the rack, place a large plate on top of the tofu block, put something heavy (such as a large pot or Mr. He) on the plate to press the tofu for 30 minutes to remove excess moisture.

2. Cut the tofu block into 1 inch cubes.

3. Spray cooking oil over a pan, heat up the pan over medium-high heat, add tofu cubes to the pan. Let the tofu cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown. 

4. Once the tofu cubes are crispy on all sides, reduce the heat to low and pour 2 tbsps of soy sauce, 2 tbsps of mirin, 1 tsp of sugar, and 1 tsp of sesame oil into the pan. Pan fry until all tofu cubes are evenly coated with the sauce.

5. Transfer the pan fried tofu cubes to a bowl, set aside.

How to Cook shiitake mushrooms

1. Slice 4 fresh shiitake mushrooms into thin strips.

2. Spray cooking oil over a pan, heat up the pan over medium-high heat, add sliced shiitake mushrooms to the pan. Let the shiitake mushrooms cook for 2-3 minutes on each side.

3. Add 2 tbsps of soy sauce, 2 tbsps of mirin, and 1 tsp of sugar to the pan. Simmer over medium low heat for about 5 minutes until the sauce is thickened.

4. Transfer the cooked shiitake mushrooms to a bowl, set aside.

How to Pan fry/Blanch other vegetables for making vegan bibimbap

Zucchini: Wash and slice a zucchini into 1/5″ thick batons. Spray cooking oil over a pan, pan fry zucchini until transparent (about 5 minutes over medium heat), season with ¼ tsp of salt, pepper, and optional minced garlic, transfer to a bowl, set aside.

Carrots: Peel and julienne a carrot. Spray cooking oil over a pan, pan fry the carrot until soft (about 5 minutes over medium heat), season with ¼ tsp of salt, pepper, and optional minced garlic, transfer to a bowl, set aside.

Bean sprouts: Wash and dry the bean sprouts. Spray cooking oil over a pan, pan fry over medium heat for about 5 minutes, season with ¼ tsp of salt, pepper, and optional minced garlic, transfer to a bowl, set aside.

Baby spinach: Bring a big pot of water to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to medium low, add in the baby spinach to simmer for 20 seconds until soft. Transfer out and drain, set aside.

Note: You can always blanch the shiitake mushrooms, zucchini, carrots, and bean sprouts as well, if you want to save some time and intake less oil.

And feel free to substitute these vegetables with any other vegetables available in your refrigerator.

What’s more, pickled vegetables such as kimchi and danmuji are must-haves to add a savory taste and a crunchy texture to the vegan bibimbap. Click the pictures below to see my kimchi and danmuji recipes⬇.

Fry eggs (skip if you are vegan)

• Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a medium nonstick pan over medium heat until slightly simmering. Crack a large chicken egg (I used 5 small quail eggs, you don’t have to use them) into a small bowl and slowly add it to the pan. Cover with a lid and cook until the whites are completely set but the yolks are still runny.

To Assembling Bibimbap

Place cooked rice in a bowl, top with pan fried tofu, vegetables, and the egg. Drizzle bibimbap sauce and optionally sesame seeds. Serve hot.

For the bibimbap sauce, I used store bought one. Because if you are going to buy the gochujang paste anyway, why not simply buy a bottle of Bibimbap sauce?

If you already have gochujang paste at home, you can diy your own bibimbap sauce at home by following this recipe from My Korean Kitchen.

Last word, you don’t need to stick strictly to the recipe to make bibimbap at home.

To me, the concept of bibimbap (Korean mixed rice) is similar to egg fried rice. The magical power of these dishes is that, they are so leftover-food-friendly.

You can mix whatever leftover vegetables you have with some hot steamed rice. The bold-flavor bibimbap sauce can immediately turn your leftover food into sweet and spicy vegan bibimbap!