Saffron Road Bibimbop with Tofu

Korean food doesn't seem to be as easy to come by as many other Asian cuisines. Bibimbap is probably to Korean cuisine what pad thai is to Thai cuisine. It's usually a pretty safe bet to order at most Korean restaurants, just gotta have them hold the egg & meat! I love a good bibimbap, but does this frozen meal from Saffron Road do the dish any justice? Keep reading to find out!

Buying/Packaging. Please refer to my review on the Saffron Road pad thai, as the information will be pretty much identical here.

Preparation. As usual, I opted for the microwave. After heating it for 4 minutes, it seemed pretty well heated through, an extra 2-3 minutes seemed a bit excessive. Against my better judgement, I heated it for 2 more minutes and it ended up a bit overcooked.

I find it funny that sometimes these frozen meal directions say to turn the meal, are there really people who own microwaves that don't have turntables anymore?

Nutrition. There is a lot of good stuff in this meal: veggies, brown rice and tofu, but the sauce is mostly salt and sugar, and there is a little more oil than what I would prefer. Overall this seems to be more unhealthy than not, real bibimbap is likely healthier even if made with white rice.

Tasting. Ugh. This a really, really sad bibimbap. The veggies were mushy, the brown rice was just a poor choice, and the gochujang sauce had something of a chemically smell to it that was off-putting. It was a bit spicy, and aroma aside the sauce didn't taste too bad but was pretty forgettable. The tofu was ok, but it didn't get covered by much of the sauce and ended up fairly bland.

Bottom Line. I would not buy this again, nor would I recommend this to anyone. If you've never had Korean food before and you're itching to try it, this is not the way to go. Either find a Korean restaurant in your area or look up some recipes online. This bibimbap recipe looks good! Do yourself a favor and stay away from this frozen garbage imitation bibimbap.

This entree is labeled vegan, and it is gluten free.

Saffron Road's website.