Jewish Bibimbap. I know what you’re thinking. It sounds a little gimmicky and I can understand that. But I want you to know that this came from a place of appreciation of bibimbap and the heritage foods I like to make.
The idea came to me after my fridge started loading up on leftovers from the big Ashkenazi Jewish meals I was whipping up in my kitchen. What to do with all of those leftovers? Sure, I could just heat them up and eat them. But there wasn’t always enough for a full meal.
That’s when I thought of bibimbap. I’d recently taken a bibimbap class with Easy Cook Asia in Berlin and learned how bibimbaps are generally put together, how a marinade is made, and how to cook the veggies. Plus, historically, a bibimbap is a very customizable dish using leftover vegetables sometimes with a little bit of meat. Not to mention I noticed a lot of cross over between the traditional ingredients of the Ashkenazi Jewish kitchen and recipes for bibimbap. What seemed contrived after first started to make sense, doubly so once I tried it out myself and even started making my shakshuka sauce with gochujang.
Before diving into the recipe, you should know that you can make this dish your own and I hope you do. This recipe is heavily influenced by the Ashkenazi eats I have in my home. Yours doesn’t have to be. Instead, I hope you take the general principle of a bibimbap and make it your own.
Note: This recipe includes leftover potato kugel. If that sounds good to you, then you can find my potato kugel recipe here. If you’d rather use meat instead of tofu, use my chicken paprikash recipe.
Jewish Bibimbap
Ingredients
Tofu Marinade
- 200 g tofu
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp ginger grated
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp sriracha or gochujang
Shakshuka Sauce
- 1 onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic diced
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- spinach
- vegetable stock as needed for deglazing
- 1 zucchini grated
- 2 large carrots grated
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 tomatoes chopped
- 1 400g can of tomato sauce
- 1 tsp ginger grated
- 1 tbsp sriracha or gochujang
Kasha
- 1 cup kasha (buckwheat)
- 2 cups water or vegetable stock
Sauté
- 1 tbsp olive oil add more as needed
- mushrooms
- 1/4 cucumber
- 1 head of broccoli
Instructions
Tofu Marinade
- Mix together your spices with your olive oil and sriracha or gochujang. Add your tofu chopped into bite-sized pieces and make sure to coat evenly. Leave in the refrigerator for now.
Shakshuka Sauce
- Heat up a pan with olive oil. When hot, add your onion and allow to simmer for 7-10 minutes. Meanwhile, grate your zucchini and carrots and chop your red bell pepper.
- Next, add your garlic for about one minute before throwing in your tomatoes, red bell pepper and grated zucchini and carrots. Once they begin to soften, throw in your spinach.
- Once the spinach starts to wilt, season with your spices (smoked paprika, sweet paprika, cumin, salt, pepper) and add either your sriracha or gochujang. Keep some vegetable stock or water on hand to deglaze the pan as needed.
- After another 5 – 10 minutes, pour your can of tomato sauce in. Mix everything together well, bring to a boil, and then lower the heat to a summer and cover.
Kasha
- Pour your cup of kasha into a pot with two cups of water or vegetable stocks. Bring it to a boil and then lower immediately to allow the kasha to absorb the liquid without burning.
Sauté
- Cover the bottom of a small skillet with olive oil and bring it to medium heat. Add your veggies (mushrooms, broccoli, cucumber) in separate five-minute blocks.
Assemble
- Fill the bottom of a bowl with kasha and add your veggies of choice on top along with any pickled vegetables, the shakshuka sauce, and a fried egg on top.
