Agedashi Tofu with Fried Sage
How to make Katsuo Dashi, two ingredients from plants with purple flowers and a recipe for this Izakaya favourite.
Crunching through the freshly-fried outer shell of the crispy tofu, into its custardy softness, brings the thrill to this dish. Oh, and couple that with the flavour-packed, richness of the dipping sauce, that the tofu sits in. Oishi!
Agedashi tofu is a traditional recipe, dating back more than 300 years. Agedashi, means fried and soaked in dashi. The same method can be used to cook aubergine, AKA Agedashi Nasu. Agedashi Tofu has become a popular dish in local Izakaya restuarants across Japan. I’ll always order it as an appetizer, a perfect supporting act for other dishes, like yakitori.
Here though, I’ve set tradition to one side and added a topping of fried sage. It’s a garnish I used to make as a junior chef in Chicago. Soul Kitchen, was the restaurant, and my life, whilst I was studying Cordon Bleu. There, we used poppy seeds in the batter for the fried sage. Remembering that dish, I’ve swapped them for black sesame seeds instead.
I love Sage’s pretty little purple flowers, that arrive later in Spring. Sage leaves have a strong savoury flavour and are highly fragrant, a little overwhelming perhaps. But with the tofu and the dashi broth; the flavours balance happily. The leaves are good for your memory too apparently. The sauce is tentsuyu, made by combining a dashi as the base, then adding mirin and soya sauce. Tentsuyu is that dipping sauce for tempura, that I’m sure you’ll know well.
This March, I’ve focused in on all types of dashi and this recipe uses katsuo dashi. Unlike shiitake dashi and kombu dashi, for katsuo dashi there’s no need to soak the raw ingredient for very long. The katsuobushi (bonito flakes) are steeped in freshly boiled water for a short time, before being strained.
To make katsuo dashi yourself, use the best quality katsuobushi you can get your hands on. Check out @wasabigrowersuk who stock Wadakyu Katsuobushi - a favourite of mine. To 1 litre of just boiled water, add 10 grams of the flakes. It’s that 1:100 ratio (1%) that is used to make most, if not all, dashi. Don’t add the flakes to the pan whilst the water’s boiling. You are not trying to cook them. Soak them in water that has just been taken off the boil.
Infuse the mixture until you see all the flakes sink to the bottom. This should take around 3 to 5 minutes. Then strain the dashi. Make sure you keep hold of those precious soaked katsuobushi flakes, I’ve a few ideas about how you can use them. Keep an eye out for a reel next week (and follow @yukiskitchen if you don’t already). Those soaked flakes are still full of flavour and not for wasting!
Pour the katsuo dashi into a bottle ready to use. You’re done and now have a fresh batch of umami filled katsuo dashi!
For an even faster method, have a look at my Katsuo Dashi in a cafetiere reel.
Unlike kombu dashi, which is subtle and enhances flavours of seafood for example. Use katsuo dashi when you want to enjoy the flavour of the dashi itself. It works very well with neutral ingredients, or flavour carriers like tofu, udon or soba noodles.
For Agedashi, use a medium firm tofu, then lightly dust with potato flour, cornflour, tapicoa or rice flour (any starch will do). Recently I love to use rice flour, when it’s fried it becomes more crispy than others. For a chewier texture choose potato, tapioca or cornflour.
Traditionally, in Japan, these are made with Katakuri flour. Katakuri flour is, these days, potato flour sold under the same name. The real stuff though, was made from the bulbs of the Katakuri plant and is a great thickening ingredient, with no flavour. Pretty, purple Katakuri flowers mark the arrival of Spring in Japan and symbolise first love. The flowers, stems and bulbs are all edible. I’m now convinced I should be growing them in my garden here in London. I wish I had a handful of those purple flowers to top this dish too! Next year.
To finish the dish, for traditional Agedashi Tofu finely chopped chives, spring onions, grated daikon or katsuobushi flakes are sprinkled on top. You can add these too, alongside the fried sage. I’ve used a few chopped chives here.
Enjoy the dish and all its textures. Please let me know in the comments if you try it and what you think of the fried sage topping. Go easy on the sauce! It tastes amazing and you might be tempted to finish it off like a soup. It does have a lot of sodium, so I’d normally leave it in the bowl.
RECIPE
Serves 4 people
Ingredients:
300 g Firm tofu
1/4 cup of Rice flour or corn flour, tapioca flour or potato flour
200 ml Katsuo dashi
50 ml Soya Sauce
30 ml Mirin
1 tbsp Sake (optional)
A bunch of sage
500 ml Vegetable oil (rice bran oil is ideal)
Batter ingredients
1/4 cup of Rice flour or corn flour, tapioca flour or potato flour + 1/2 cup of water
1 tbsp of Black sesame seeds
METHOD
Before you start, take the tofu out of the packaging and wrap lightly in a clean cloth or jay cloth. This will remove any excess water from the tofu. You can skip this step for some tofu, depending on the brand as they have different moisture contents.
Next, prepare the tentsuyu sauce as you’ll want this ready, to eat the fried sage and tofu quickly after frying.
Bring the katsuo dashi to the boil in a small pan. Add the sake and mirin, bringing it back to the boil. This step ensures the alcohol evaporates from the mirin and sake.
Next add the soya sauce and bring to the boil once again. Once it reaches boiling point, take it off the heat and set it to one side.
Unwrap the tofu and cut it into bite size pieces, around 1cm thick. Dust each piece with the flour you’ve chosen, ready for frying.
Add the flour for the batter with the water and mix very well. You can use a fork or a whisk. There’s no gluten in the flour, so you can mix it very well.
In a large, deep pan, start to heat the oil to 180 degrees celsius. I check this, by touching a pair of chopsticks in the oil to see if there are lots of small frying bubbles. If so, it’s hot enough to start. Be very careful not to overheat it. A temperature gun, is also perfect for this.
Dunk each cluster of sage leaves into the batter, then shake, then straight into the oil. Fry for 1-2 minutes until crispy and very lightly golden. Take out and set to one side, on a rack over a tray to drain away any excess oil.
Next fry the tofu, for 1-2 minutes. Aim for that same light golden colour. You don’t have to cook the tofu through, you’re looking to acheive a crispy outer and light colour only. Fry 3-4 pieces at a time. Putting too many in at once will cause the oil temperature to drop rapidly and this can make the tofu pieces soggy.
After frying, put them on a rack with the sage for a few minutes. In the meantime, re-heat the tentsuyu sauce for serving.
To serve, in a small bowl, place the fried tofu then pour over the sauce. Top it off with the fried sage and like me, a few chopped chives. As mentioned, you can also add grated ginger or daikon, as a classic topping.
Fascinating Yuki, thank you
This looks so delicious! I'm such a fan of tofu, so I'll definitely try this out.