Agedashi Tofu: The Crispy Japanese Tofu Classic You Can Make Two Ways
With roots stretching back centuries, this beloved Japanese tofu dish is yours to prepare—traditionally deep-fried or crisp from the air fryer. + a Dashi stock tutorial
Hello there!
I hope the heat dome has not been too unkind to you. This week’s Sunday Special arrives early because on Sunday, I’ll be readying for the cooking class. I’m so excited and looking forward to seeing all of you.
Gadzooks! So many people are interested in mastering crispy banh xeo rice crepes. The class is packed. And there I was worried that no one would sign up! Thank you for your enthusiasm.
🏝️ Vacation Mode 🏝️ : To celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary and take some much needed time off, we’re going on vacation next week. That means you won’t hear from me again until Sunday, August 1. If I don’t see you this Sunday in class, enjoy the rest of July!
But before I go, I want to share a recipe that will repay you many times over.
Among the paid subscriber recipe suggestions this year was for more Asian basics. Those workhorse recipes help you build meals with greater ease. Earlier, I unleashed all I know about making Vietnamese nước chấm dipping sauce. This week, I wrote up my recipe for dashi stock. It’s utterly easy and incredibly transformative.
However, because dashi involves ‘exotic’ ingredients — kombu (dried kelp) and katsuobushi (shaved bonito flakes), most English-language recipes call for instant dashi. I have done that to lower recipe’s barrier to entry and get you to try something new.
When dashi is needed in a small amount to be used as a seasoning, it’s too much effort to make it from scratch. Instant is fine. However, when dashi stars in a dish, using instant dashi takes your food down a couple of notches. It’s worth it to go homemade in such situations.
But know this: Dashi stock is much much faster and easier than making chicken, beef, vegetable, or ramen stock!
Dashi only involves 2 key ingredients plus water.
Most of the “cooking” is you letting the kombu soak in water! You can cook while you’re sleeping.
My dashi recipe plus a buying guide for kombu and dried bonito flakes are on the website. The stock keeps well for days! I included a vegan dashi variation too! Get the dashi stock 🆓 recipe and tutorial!
And, just like when you have any kind of homemade stock, when you have dashi in the fridge, a flavorful world opens up. I’m not just saying to make miso soup! I’m talking about agedashi dofu, a classic tofu dish that dates back centuries.
In Japanese, “age” refers to something fried. “Dashi” refers to the basic Japanese stock.
For agedashi tofu, blocks of tofu are fried to a crisp then quickly served in a savory-slightly sweet sauce of seasoned dashi. Ginger and green onion add heat and pungency. If you like, add grated daikon to cut the richness and/or a bit of bonito flakes for a smoky touch. Either way, agedashi tofu’s flavor and textural contrasts are strikingly synergistic.
A tofu bestseller
The first formal recipe for agedashi tofu appeared in Tofu Hyakuchin (100 Tofu Recipes), a 1782 bestseller! The tofu cookbook was such a hit that two additional volumes of tofu recipes followed. Tofu in Japan is taken seriously.
Centuries later, agedashi dofu remains on countless menus all over the world and is prepared by home cooks too. It’s heavenly comfort food when the tofu is fried to a slight crisp and the delicate sauce just lightly cloaks. Most often, the tofu is sadly soggy from waiting too long to be delivered to your table. If you make agedashi dofu at home, you can eat the tofu as soon as it’s ready!
Agedashi tofu is typically deep-fried but I devised a great air-fried option in my Ninja Combi Multicooker oven (you can use your air fryer). You’ll find those cooking instructions in my package of tofu tastiness below:
The agedashi tofu recipe with deep-fried and oven-fried directions for cooking the tofu. It’s all provided both as text and as a downloadable PDF.
An explainer on what makes the tofu crispy (so you can use it elsewhere).
Two sauce options, depending on how saucy you want to be!
Timing and planning tips so you can impress friends and family.
Agedashi tofu is often listed on menus as a snack but I’ve served it as a main dish with rice and other dishes.
