Hello lovelies,
Korean food fascinates me again and again, and this tempeh bulgogi is now a regular on our weekly menu. Instead of beef, tempeh soaks in a sweet and salty marinade of soy sauce, Asian pear, garlic and sesame oil. Then it is fried until crispy with onion and mushrooms and glazed with the rest of the marinade. With a bowl of rice, that is pure comfort food for me.
Tempeh stopped being exotic in my kitchen a long time ago. If you don't know it well yet, you can also get to know it in my vegan lettuce wraps with tempeh and kohlrabi, where it is diced, fried with kohlrabi and mushrooms and spooned into fresh lettuce leaves.
The secret is in the marinade
Classic bulgogi lives from its marinade, and the pear plays the leading role. I use an Asian pear, which is juicy and crisp and brings a mild, fruity sweetness. Together with soy sauce, honey, rice wine, sesame oil, garlic and a good amount of pepper, you get a flavor that is sweet, salty and savory all at once. The tempeh really soaks up the marinade, and the second half is reduced into a glossy sauce at the end.
The tempeh should marinate for at least 30 minutes. When I remember, I put it in the marinade in the morning, then everything goes very quickly in the evening. In the meantime the rice cooks, and the mushrooms and onion are sliced in no time.
By the way, rice with Asian flavors comes in many versions in our house. For an evening with friends I like to bake my vegetarian sushi bake with tofu, a kind of sushi casserole from the oven that everyone tops themselves with nori sheets.
Our kids like their bulgogi best with lots of rice and not too much pepper, so I sometimes use a little less for them. They pick up the spring onions on top with great enthusiasm, though.
If you love sweet and salty sesame glazes as much as I do, try my crispy sesame cauliflower wings from the oven too, the perfect starter before the bulgogi.
I hope you have lots of fun cooking this. Tell me in the comments whether you made the bulgogi with tempeh or with tofu.
