If you love spicy noodles, this will definitely be your next go-to dish! It’s Korean style cold noodles with garlicky, spicy, savory tangy and sweet sauce. It’s easy to prepare that you’ll want to make it over and over!
If you skip the optional oven-baked tofu, the prep time should be 15 minutes and the cook time should be less than 15 minutes!
Servings:
Ingredients
Oven-baked Tofu (optional) *
- 454 g extra firm tofu 1 pound (weight before drained)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Bibim Men Sauce (start here if you skip oven-baked tofu above)
- 2 tbsp gochujang
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1/2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- 1 tsp garlic paste
- 1/2 tsp gochugaru
The Rest
- 227 g dried somen noodles I used 1 package [8.8 oz/250g] *
Toppings
- 125 g English cucumber julienned
- Vegan kimchi *
- Shredded/teared Korean seaweed gim or Japanese nori gim or Japanese nori
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Toasted sesame oil
- A few slices oven-baked tofu optional. see the recipe above
Instructions
- Place an unpacked and drained tofu block on a shallow bowl or plate. Put heavy weight (such as large canned item) on top. Let it stand for 15-20 minutes to drain excess water.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven at 400 °F (205 °C.)
- When it’s drained, cut the block in half then slice into 1/2-inch thickness. Place them on parchment lined baking sheet (or any non-stick surface) in a single layer. Seasoned with salt and black pepper on both sides (1/4 tsp salt & 1/4 tsp black pepper on each side.) Bake them for 25-30 minutes on one side then flip and bake another 10-15 minutes until crispy and golden brown. Take them out and set aside.
- In a large pot, start boiling water for cooking somen noodles.
- Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Combine all the sauce ingredients (gochujang, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, toasted sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, garlic paste, and gochugaru) in a large prep bowl. Mix until well combined. Set aside.
- Once the water is boiling, cook somen noodles for 2 minutes (or follow the instructions on the package.) Use a colander to drain. Rinse the noodles under running water to remove the starch. Shake off the excess water.
- Add the well-drained somen noodles to the bowl of sauce mixture. Toss them together until the noodles are well coated with the sauce.
- Serve immediately with the toppings: Julienned English cucumber, vegan kimchi, extra toasted sesame seeds & toasted sesame oil, and oven-baked tofu (optional.)
Notes
- Oven-baked tofu is an optional topping for an additional protein component. To make without it, skip to “Bibim Men Sauce” section of the ingredients list. Also, skip Step 1 to 3 and start at Step 4.
- Dried somen noodles for 1 serving is about 4 oz/113 g. That said, I used one whole package (8.8 oz/250g) which is slightly over the suggested servings. It still works with the given amount of the sauce recipe.
- Be sure to look for vegan kimchi. Many kimchi sold in stores may contain some animal ingredients! I’d recommend “traditional” type vegan kimchi made with napa cabbage, not sauerkraut kind.
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