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Agedashi tofu is a deliciously light tofu dish where pieces of silken tofu are dredged in potato starch before being deep fried. When it is served with the amber sauce, the fried crust turns a bit gooey and chewy, but in an amazingly toothsome way. The slightly biting flavour of the daikon nicely complements the sweet and savoury sauce and the rather plain fried tofu.
Tomiko and I first had agedashi tofu in Tokyo, and even though we loved it, we were apprehensive about trying to make it at home. Then when I was visiting our Japanese friend in Berlin, her mom easily whipped it up and it was just as good, and pretty easy to boot. I don’t have a deep fryer, but I find that using some oil in a wok works in a pinch.
This recipe is adapted from Recipes of Japanese Cooking by Yuko Fujita.
- 300 g silken tofu
- 3 Tbsp grated daikon
- ⅓ red chili
- 2 or 3 leaves asatsuki chive
- fine dried bonito shreds
- katakuniko starch (potato starch)
- oil for deep frying
- ¼ cup dashi stock
- 2 tsp shoyu
- 1 tsp mirin
- Wrap the tofu with cloth or paper towel, and place on a tray. Let stand for 30 minutes in the fridge to eliminate moisture.
- Remove the seeds of the chili, and soak in lukewarm water. Chop finely and mix with the grated daikon to make a momiji-oroshi condiment. Cut the chives.
- Preheat the oil to 350F. The tip of a wooden chopstick should bubble when inserted into the oil..
- Cut the tofu into eight pieces, coat thinly with katakuriko starch, and deep fry in oil. When the tofu turns light brown and floats up to the surface, take out of the pan and drain on a tray.
- Place the mirin, stock, and shoyu in a small pot and bring to a boil to make the sauce
- Arrange the tofu in a dish and pour the sauce over it. Garnish with the momiji-oroshi condiment, chopped chives, and fine, dried bonito flakes.
