Japanese Agedashi Tofu Food

JAPANESE AGEDASHI TOFU

Steps:

• Place the block of tofu between sheets of paper towels. Set a plate on top; add a 3- to 5-pound weight to the plate. Press tofu for 15 minutes; drain and discard the accumulated liquid.
• Meanwhile, combine water, soy sauce, mirin, and dashi in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Remove weight, plate, and paper towels. Cut tofu into 3/4-inch cubes. Place flour in a bowl and lightly coat tofu with flour.
• Heat oil in a heavy pot and fry tofu until golden-brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Fry in batches if necessary so as not to overcrowd the pot. Place fried tofu in a serving dish and pour sauce on top. Sprinkle with green onions.

AGEDASHI DOFU: JAPANESE FRIED TOFU IN A DASHI-BASED SAUCE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Wrap the tofu with paper towels, and place it on a flat tray. Put a cutting board or a flat plate on top of the tofu , and let sit for about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, put dashi, soy sauce, and mirin in a saucepan, and bring to a boil.
• Mix 1 tablespoon katakuriko potato starch with 1 tablespoon water.
• Add the katakuriko mixture to the sauce, and stir quickly. Stop the heat.
• Dry the tofu with paper towels, and cut each tofu piece in half.
• Dust the tofu with 4 tablespoons of katakuriko to coat the pieces completely.
• Heat oil to 350 F in a deep pot.
• Deep-fry the tofu pieces until they turn light brown. Drain on paper towels.
• Place each fried tofu piece in a small dish and pour the sauce over it. Garnish with grated ginger and bonito flakes, if using.

AGEDASHI DOFU

Steps:

• Drain off any excess water from the tofu and place on paper towels. Lay another sheet of paper towel on top and cover with a plate. Weight the plate to squeeze out as much water as possible from the tofu. Be careful not to squish the tofu. Leave for about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine the dashi soup stock, soya sauce and sugar in a pan and heat over a moderate heat until the sugar has melted. Remove from the heat and divide evenly into two bowls.
• Take your tofu, cut each block in half, and coat generously in the cornflour. Pour about 1-2inches of vegetable oil into a large wok and heat - be careful here! If your oil starts to smoke it's too hot. An easy way to judge if it's hot enough is to flick a small bit of cornflour into the oil - if it sizzles and disappears your oil's about ready. Place your coated tofu pieces in the oil and, turning with wooden chopsticks/a slotted spoon, fry until done. The cornflour will harden but not necessarily go golden. This is okay.
• Split the tofu pieces evenly between your bowls (should be two pieces each) and top with grated daikon, a small amount of ginger and chopped spring onion.
• Eat immediately and savour the goodness.

AGEDASHI TOFU BAKED IN TOASTER OVEN

Steps:

• Place a block of tofu in a bowl and put a heavy weight on top for a few hours to drain water.
• Line a toaster oven pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper and spray oil. Preheat the oven toaster to 450°F/225°C.
• Dice tofu into large chunks and coat them with potato starch.
• Bake tofu in the toaster oven for about 20 minutes until they are lightly browned.
• In a meantime, heat 1 1/2 cups of water in a small pan.
• Peel and grate daikon radish and ginger separately. Thinly slice green onions.
• Add tamari, dashi, sake (if using), and ginger to the hot water in the pan and stir. Reduce heat.
• In a small bowl, add 2 tsp of potato starch and 2 Tbsp of water and mix well to dissolve the starch.
• Add the starch mixture to the pan and stir. Turn off the heat.
• In a dish, place baked tofu and top with grated radish, green onions, and nanami togarashi (if using).
• Pour the soup. Infuse love and serve immediately.