Recipe: The Secret of Agedashi Tofu

When in need of a serious sushi fix, any Japanese restaurant trip morphs into a fiendish optimisation problem, involving maximising the amount of raw fish, rice, and nori consumed, while minimising the  mounting bill. Handrolls usually fare well under this cost-benefit analysis, as do the large rolls (futomaki). Sashimi, on the other hand, should really be a sporadic treat, but London property prices have consigned me to the rental market for the foreseeable future, so what the hell, bring on the o-toro.

If I'm feeling particularly cavalier in the spending department, I may even venture into the cooked dish section. When this happens, first up is always the agedashi tofu.

It made financial sense, therefore, to put top of the cookery agenda. After all, it's just tofu, flour, and a bit of oil, right?

Wrong.

There's a secret to making agedashi tofu.

Several secrets, in fact.

Secret no. 1: The type of tofu matters.

After discovering fresh silken tofu in the fridge section of my local organic store, I got over-excited and failed to take in the 'very soft' description on the packet. Unfortunately, the tofu was so delicate, it disintegrated into slippery chunks as I tried to coat each piece in flour, and I ended up eating batter-covered lumps of tofu mush. Satisfying, but no cigar.

For the averagely-dexterous human, I recommend looking for the 'firm'/'very firm' variety of silken tofu. Now things get confusing here. You can often find a whole range of tofu in the shops, of varying firmness. But not all tofu is of the silken variety -- i.e. the type that's, well, silky,  with a texture akin to jelly. If you find a range that doesn't have the word 'silken' on it, try the lower (less firm) end of the scale, or wait till you find a brand that specifies the type.

Avoid the coarse grainy non-Japanese "I'm a health nut"-type tofu. It's just wrong, plain wrong.

Secret no. 2: The type of flour matters.

Various online recipes (and Tsuji) simply list 'flour' as the other main ingredient; others specify cornflour/cornstarch. The plain-flour version left a rice-paper-thin coating around the tofu, which repelled the sauce and didn't taste of much. The cornflour version was heavy and oily, reminiscent of banana fritters.

Eventually, out in the farther reaches of the internet, I found mention of 'potato starch/flour' (katakuriko). Off to the Japanese supermarket once more. Thankfully, it was third time lucky, and the tofu cubes came out covered in that classic slightly-ectoplasmic batter. Eureka.

 

Then there's a third secret: my friend (let's call him Roast Pork) is a bit of a wuss when it comes to frying pans.

When the oil started spluttering, he beat a hasty retreat to the other side of the kitchen, and proceeded to wince each time I placed a tofu cube into the (gently) sizzling oil with my  bare hands. (NOTE: My fingers never went anywhere near the surface of the oil, should anyone misinterpret this action.) Now, Roast Pork is a qualified medical doctor. He's seen it all: traumatic live births, blood-spurting emergency surgery, you name it. But shallow-frying tofu? Terrifying stuff.

(I shouldn't joke, really. If I get any more mal-coordinated, I may need a trained doctor on hand for all my future cookery jaunts. Sorry, Roast Pork. Next dinner's on me. *grin*)

Recipe: Agedashi Tofu

Serves 2

Ingredients

• Japanese silken tofu - press out excess water using kitchen towel
• Potato starch/flour (katakuriko)
• Oil for frying - e.g. vegetable oil, rapeseed oil

For the sauce

• Dashi, 150ml
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp soy sauce

Optional garnish

• Spring onions, finely-chopped
• White radish (daikon), finely-grated

Mix together the sauce ingredients, and set aside.

Pour a layer oil (say 0.5cm) into a pan. Heat to medium/high temperature.

Cut the tofu into cubes (say 4cm each side). Pour a palm-sized amount of potato starch/flour onto a plate. Lightly drag each tofu cube through the flour, repeating for each side of the cube. The coating should be thin and even.

The oil in the pan should now be hot enough for frying. (Drop in a tiny flick of water, and see if it sizzles. Sizzling is good.) Place the flour-coated tofu cubes into the oil (using your fingers or chopsticks). Making sure they do not touch, else they'll stick together -- you may have to do 2-3 batches.

Fry the tofu cubes for 3-4 minutes (or until the base is a light golden colour), then gently flip the cubes over and cook for the same length of time.

Move the tofu cubes onto a piece of kitchen towel, to soak up the excess oil.

Place the finished tofu cubes into a bowl, and pour the sauce around the tofu. Garnish (optional) with the spring onion and grated daikon.

Serve hot.

Comments

[ravenouscouple]

thanks for sharing! we've made hiyayakko tofu before so will have to try this!

[Thuy]

Thank you! I've always wanted to make this, but have been too intimidated to try. Now I will

[JenJen]

Hi ravenouscouple / Thuy! Glad to be of service =)

[Quico]

[JenJen EDIT: I've now made changes to the post to make things clearer about the tofu type - many thanks Quico for pointing this out. =) ]

Hey JenJen,

Just by way of introduction, I'm the guy who married Kanako, of Kanako's Kitchen fame. I think your blog is really great: you're such a stylish writer. We always had in mind people like you when we started doing her Japanese cooking blog, so it's nice to know that, y'know, you exist.

That said, I have to register my shocked distress at this appalling Agedashi Tofu recipe. You were on the right track with the potato starch but Christ almighty no firm tofu!!

What you need is very fancy Japanese silken tofu and extreme care. In a pinch, you could use soft non-silken tofu (what they call "momen tofu" in Japan - cotton tofu) but "firm tofu" is right out. Doesn't even exist out there.

You need to try several different brands to find silken tofu that will hold together as you fry it. We've usually had good luck with Korean brands - Chinese brands tend to go to mush. (Japanese brands we can't find in Canada.)

Anyway, the blog is really great. You're a great food photographer - we need to work on that more.

[JenJen]

Hi Quico

I totally agree about the tofu - what's happened is that the UK, they often sell long-life brands of tofu in tetra-pack-type packaging, which *is* silken tofu, but on the packet, they come in grades: soft, firm, very firm. As you've said, it's all about finding the right type of silken tofu that will hold together.

I recently bought some fresh "firm" tofu, expecting it to be the silken but a bit tougher, and got a surprise! I didn't even bother using it for agedashi tofu... Will be editing the post in the next few days, with some clearer tofu-buying thoughts.

Thanks for your encouraging comments!

[Quico]

"Avoid the coarse grainy non-Japanese "I'm a health nut"-type tofu. It's just wrong, plain wrong."

Ah! Good to know we see eye-to-eye on this!

It's a damn tragedy what hippies have done to Tofu's reputation in the west. Unconscionable. Really unconscionable.

[Ando]

Age-!dashi is great
Try adding thinly sliced pieces of nori on top!!
I would like to suggest adding another secret to your recipe:
After cutting and before frying the tofu, wrap in a paper towel to gently squeeze out much of the water. Then bread in katakuriko and fry as usual.
This helps reduce splattering while frying, as well as improve the crispiness and texture of the tofu!