Seasoned tofu pockets stuffed with rice

I’m introducing another easy recipe to you: yubuchobap, made with seasoned fried tofu and rice. It originated from Japan, but it’s very popular lunch box and picnic food in Korea. You can make it very easily at home because these days ready-made kits of ingredients for yubuchobap are sold at Korean and Japanese grocery stores. You may find them in Asian grocery stores, too.

The yubuchobap kit comes with 3 items: seasoned fried tofu, a vinegar-based sauce packet, and a packet of dried ingredients (carrots, sesame seeds, seaweed, etc). Even if you’re too busy to add more ingredients to your rice, you still can make delicious yubuchobap using only the kit. Just mix your freshly made warm rice with the vinegar-based sauce and dried ingredients, and fill each yubu pocket with the seasoned rice!

But I’ll show you how to make more delicious yubuchobap by adding fresh ingredients. I’m also going to show you an idea for a Halloween-themed yubuchobap. Spooky eyes made with white rice! How does it sound to you? It already sounds creepy! : )

If you don’t know how to make rice in a pot, the recipe is posted here.

Enjoy this recipe and don’t forget to make creepy eyes for fun. Let me know if you scare your friends with it.

Yubuchobap

Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients:
2 cups of cooked rice (made with 1 cup of short grain rice), yubuchobap kit, cucumber, carrot, salt, yellow pickled radish, vegetable oil, and canned black olives (for spooky eyes).

Directions:

1. Chop cucumber and carrot into small pieces, about 1/3 cup worth. Put it into a bowl.
2. Add a pinch of salt and mix well. Squeeze out any excess water 10 minutes later.
3. In a heated pan, add a drop of vegetable oil and saute the squeezed vegetables for 20 seconds.
4. Chop yellow pickled radish into small pieces, about 2 tbs worth.
5. Make 2 cups of rice and put it into a large bowl.
6. Add the vinegar-based sauce to the warm rice. Mix it well with a wooden spoon.
   *tip: I suggest not pouring all the sauce from the packet into the rice. Add it little by little until you reach your preferred taste.  

   

7. Add the prepared vegetables and chopped yellow pickled radish to the rice. Mix it well and cool it down.
8. Open the package of yubu and squeeze it slightly to drain out the extra sauce.
9. Open up each yubu to make a pouch.
10. Take about 2-3 tbs of rice and make oval-looking rice balls.
11. Fill each tofu pocket with a rice ball.
12. Dip the top of the pocket with the exposed rice into the mix of dried ingredients. Put each pocket on to a serving plate one by one.

To make creepy eyes!

1. Fill each pouch of yubu with white rice mixed with vinegar-based sauce. Form into an eye shape.
2. Cut a black olive in half crosswise.
3. Insert the half dome of the olive into the center of the yubuchobap
4. Adjust the shape to make it look like eye!
   
   
   

You could use this as appetizer, too!