To make these fried Japanese tofu recipes you will need:
1 – 2 blocks of extra firm tofu
Potato starch
Oil (I used olive oil)
Sweet rice wine
Soy Sauce
Other ingredients you may use are scallions, mushrooms, ginger, dashi, daikon radish, Nori
My Happy and Delicious Accident
My son decided a year ago to cut out meat and dairy products from his diet. He was living on his own so I didn’t have a need to make vegan or vegetarian food.
Now that he is home I search recipe blogs for yummy vegan dishes for him.
The other night I made something tasty on my own with what we had available – tofu, sriracha sauce, and soy sauce without a recipe.
I squished all the water out trying not to break the tofu. The paper towels were soaking wet. Once it was as dry as I could get it I sliced it into cubes – probably 2 inches each.
In a separate bowl I put sriracha sauce, soy sauce, garlic flakes, and some seasoning. After mixing it and putting some gloves on I placed the tofu cubes into the sauce. I gently moved the pieces in the bowl to make sure I covered each piece.
While I let this sit I heated some olive oil in a frying pan on low heat. Once heated I added the pieces one by one placing a lid on top.
After about 3 – 6 minutes I flipped them – they were brown on one side. Be careful and keep the heat low or use protective gloves because the grease does splatter.
I removed them from the fire a few minutes later.
Next, I reheated some rice with soy sauce and sriracha along with scallions, thinly sliced carrots, and broccoli.
Finally, I placed the rice on the plate with the fried tofu on top. I tried a bit myself and my mouth did a happy dance. I actually made something yummy.
My son ate his meal with enjoyment.
What did I just make? I know from eating at Japanese restaurants that they have something like this so I searched online.
It’s called Agedashi Tofu. You make in a similar way except you add a coating to it.
Below are a few mouth-watering recipes I found online.
1. Agedashi Tofu by Nami of Just One Cook Book
She uses soft tofu in her recipe along with vegetable oil, potato starch, dashi (kombu dashi for vegetarian – she has a homemade recipe on her blog), mirin, soy sauce, scallion, daikon radish and Japanese seven spice.
Included is a step-by-by step photo tutorial as well as video tutorial.
She suggest squeezing the liquid out of the tofu for 15-minutes. I think I may have done 5-minutes so I’ll have to try getting more of the water out next time.
After chopping the onions and grating the radish (and making the sauce) she deep fries the tofu. Agedashi is crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. Read the rest of her tutorial as well as some interesting tidbits about this appetizer on her blog Just One Cook Book.
justonecookbook.com/recipes/agedashi-tofu-2
2. Deep Fried Tofu by Bebe Love Okazu
This recipe looks very simple.
– drain the tofu
– coat it with potato starch
– fry it
– make sauce and cut up vegetables
– serve
Visit Judy Ung’s blog Bebe Love Okazu for the complete recipe.
bebeloveokazu.com/2011/08/16/agedashi-tofu
Tip: Tofu frying tips from Andrea Nguyen of Viet World Kitchen vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2012/06/tofu-frying-tips
3. Fried Tofu in Dashi Sauce by Natsuko Kure
For this version you’ll need soft tofu, potato starch, Enoki mushroom, chives, salad oil, Dashi stock and Dashi flakes (make sure it is vegetarian), soy sauce, mirin, and Nori seaweed.
Tip: Drain Your Tofu The Right Way – Natsuko drains her tofu using the microwave. Visit her to see how she does it.
cookmap.com/en/recipes/agedashi-tofu-fried-tofu-in-dashi-sauce
Don’t these recipes sound yummy?
Next time I cook for my son I’m going to try draining the tofu as Natsuko suggests as well as taking a few pointers from Andrea on frying so I don’t get splattered with grease.
Have you made Japanese fried tofu? Which of the three recipes will you try?
And now I’d like to invite you to follow me on Pinterest as I learn cooking by trying various recipes.