Agedashi Tofu

Agedashi tofu is a Japanese way to serve hot tofu. Silken (kinugoshi) firm tofu, cut into cubes, is lightly dusted with potato starch or cornstarch and then deep fried until golden brown. It's then served in a hot tentsuyu broth made of dashi, mirin, and sho-yu (Japanese soy sauce), and topped with finely chopped negi (a type of spring onion) or grated daikon.

Agedashi tofu is an old and well-known dish. It was included in a 1782 Japanese all-tofu cookbook entitled Tofu Hyakuchin (literally "One hundred Tofu"), along with other tofu dishes such as chilled tofu (hiyayakko) and simmered tofu (yudofu).

Ingredients:

• 2 blocks firm tofu
• 1 cup dashi soup stock
• 1 tbsp soysauce
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp potatostarch/cornstarch and 1tbsp water
• 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
• potatostarch for dusting tofu.
• vegetable oil for frying.

Preparation:

Wrap tofu with paper towel and place it on a cutting board. Put another cutting board or a plate on top the tofu to remove water from tofu. Put konbu dashi, soy sauce, and mirin in a pan and heat.

When the sauce boils, add starch mixture and mix quickly. Dry tofu with paper towel and cut each tofu in half. Dust tofu with potatostarch. Fry tofu in 350 F oil until it turns brown. Place each fried tofu in a small dish and pour the sauce over it. Put grated ginger on top of each tofu.