Dubu with Scallops

My love affair with Korean food started when my sister moved to Toronto. She took me to Korean BBQ and I was in love. The sweet and savory melt-in-your-mouth meat...When I learned that Montreal had opened a Korean restaurant, I tried it with a friend and discovered Bi Bim Kook Soo...it was so good. In the last couple of years, Korean cuisine has been popping up everywhere in Montreal.

I discovered Maangchi's food blog when i googled for the potato banchan. I can't say I've tried a whole lot of recipes from her blog, but a lot of them look delicious.

I was originally going to make Tofu Scallops that Kevin likes so much, but i find the recipe to be just OK. I remembered I had saved one of maangchi's recipes in my favorites. Dubu (dooboo) is a popular Korean dish of sliced and/or pan fried tofu served with kimchi or sliced pork. I decided to use the scallops I bought.

1 package of tofu, sliced into rectangles
Vegetable oil for pan frying

1 clove of garlic, minced
1 green onion, chopped
1 tsp garlic chili sauce (more if needed) can be subbed with pepper flakes
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil

1. Slice the tofu into bite size pieces (¼ inch thick rectangles). Blot each piece with a paper towel.
2. Heat a pan with vegetable oil. Add the tofu. Cook over medium heat for about 5-7 minutes or until tofu is golden. Flip the tofu and brown the other side.
3. Transfer the cooked tofu to a serving plate.
4. Make your sauce in a small bowl by mixing the rest of the ingredients.
5. If using scallops, stir-fry scallops with salt and pepper until opaque. Do not overcook.
6. Spoon the sauce evenly over the tofu, and sprinkle some roasted sesame seeds just before serving. Serve with rice.

This was a very simple dish. The tofu frying on the stove smells a little weird, but the dish is very good. Kevin said the sauce was strong, but gobbled up everything anyway. I had no idea the dish was so quick to make. I had dinner on the table in 25 min. We did not have leftovers.