Agedashi tofu 揚げだし豆腐

Ah, agedashi tofu. That delicious, deep fried, delectable dish you can order as an appetizer at almost any Japanese restaurant. Well, I have a secret -- this thing is E-A-S-Y to make!

• 1 block of tofu 豆腐一丁
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour 小麦粉
• vegetable oil for frying 野菜油
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce 醤油
• 3 Tbsp dashi sauce だし汁
• 1 tsp sake 酒
• pinch sugar 砂糖
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced 生姜
• 1 Tbsp fresh daikon, minced 大根
• pinch dried bonito flakes (katsuobushi) かつおぶし

There are many kinds of tofu. No, seriously. Some are good for nabe or sukiyaki, some are good for hiyayakko, some are good for mabo tofu... but the one I like best for agedashi tofu is silken style tofu. Love that smooth silky texture when you get past the crunchy / gooey crust and there's that melt in your mouth goodness inside. I've used the soft tofu before, which is the best, but boy is it hard to keep intact through the dredging and deep frying. So I go for the medium or firm tofu.

I take the tofu out of the packaging, carefully. I cut it into 6 cubes. Then onto a paper towel for a few minutes. I want to get as much of the liquid out of the tofu as I can before I do anything more with it. 

Then, the flour goes into a bowl, and I coat my tofu cubes in it. I want to get plenty of flour on the sides, and am careful not to handle it with sticky fingers. The flour will get moist and stick to the tofu. If I handle it more than I need to, the coating of flour will rub right off. I leave it sitting in my flour until I'm ready for them to fry. (But when they go into the oil, gotta make sure to dust off any excess flour.) 

I heat up the oil for deep frying. I'm kind of a penny pincher about deep frying oil, because I'm not a fan of recycling oil too many times and I hate that so much goes wasted. So although I know that it's not the best practice, I do use the smallest pan I can find for the task. It saves oil! I want the oil to get nice and hot. My handy Japanese cookbook says 170-180 degrees Celsius but in reality I think I end up frying at about 150 degrees C and the tofu comes out just fine. I want to make sure it is good and hot though because if it isn't, the crust won't be crunchy and will fall off the tofu and make an unhappy mess. 

The tofu goes in for about 10-12 minutes total. I flip them once halfway because my oil isn't deep. They're fried till they turn a golden brown. 

While those are frying, I get my sauce ready. My soy sauce, dashi sauce, sake and sugar go into a small saucepan to heat. Turn it off when it comes to a brief boil. Then I take my little clump of ginger, peel it and mince it. Next, my daikon. I like to take the huge lug of daikon and mince it directly. These are left fresh and I reserve them to add as garnishes.  

Time for all of it to come together. Tofu comes out of the fryer and is set on some paper towels for a minute to drain the excess oil. My mom always used one layer of paper towel over a paper shopping bag (Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, etc.) which does all the heavy duty work. I've adopted this trick from her. Ok, tofu into a bowl, minced daikon and ginger on top, my sauce over it, and then the bonito flakes. Voila! Appetizers are ready. 

Ok, so what to do with all that leftover daikon? Come on now, it's Japanese cuisine night! Plenty of Japanese entree dishes that call for daikon. ;)