To make these Japanese fried tofu recipes you will need:

1 – 2 blocks of extra firm tofu

potato starch

Oil (I used olive oil)

sweet rice wine

soy sauce

Other ingredients you can use are spring onions, mushrooms, ginger, dashi, daikon radish, nori

My happy and delicious accident

My son decided a year ago to eliminate meat and dairy products from his diet. He lived alone, so he had no need to make vegan or vegetarian food.

Now that he’s home, I search recipe blogs for delicious vegan dishes for him.

The other night I made something tasty on my own with what we had available: tofu, sriracha sauce, and over-the-counter soy sauce.

I crushed all the water trying not to break the tofu. The paper towels were soaked. Once it was as dry as I could get it, I cut it into cubes, probably 2 inches each.

In a separate bowl, I put sriracha sauce, soy sauce, garlic flakes, and a little bit of seasoning. After mixing it up and putting on some gloves, I placed the tofu cubes into the sauce. I gently moved the pieces around in the bowl to make sure I covered each piece.

While I’m letting this sit, I heated up some olive oil in a skillet over low heat. Once hot I added the pieces one by one placing a lid on top.

After about 3-6 minutes I flipped them over, they were brown on one side. Be careful and keep the heat low or wear protective gloves because the fat will splatter.

I removed them from the heat a few minutes later.

Next, I reheated some sriracha soy sauce rice along with scallions, thinly sliced ​​carrots, and broccoli.

Lastly, I put the rice on the plate with the fried tofu on top. I tasted some myself and my mouth did a happy dance. In fact, I did something delicious.

My son ate his food with pleasure.

What I have just done? I know from eating at Japanese restaurants that they have something like this, so I looked online.

It’s called Agedashi tofu. You do it in a similar way, except you add a coating to it.

Below are some delicious recipes I found online.

1. Agedashi Tofu by Nami from Just One Cook Book

She uses soft tofu in her recipe along with vegetable oil, potato starch, dashi (kombu dashi for vegetarians; she has a homemade recipe on her blog), mirin, soy sauce, chives, daikon radish, and Japanese seven spices.

A step-by-step photo tutorial is included, as well as a video tutorial.

She suggests squeezing the liquid out of the tofu for 15 minutes. I think I may have done 5 minutes, so I’ll have to try to get more water next time.

After chopping the onions and grating the radishes (and making the sauce), fry the tofu. Agedashi is crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. Read the rest of his tutorial, as well as some interesting facts about this appetizer on his Just One Cook Book blog.

justonecookbook.com/recipes/agedashi-tofu-2

2. Fried Tofu by Bebe Love Okazu

This recipe seems very simple.

– drain the tofu

– cover it with potato starch

– fry it

– make sauce and cut vegetables

– attend

Visit Judy Ung’s Bebe Love Okazu blog for the full recipe.

bebeloveokazu.com/2011/08/16/agedashi-tofu

Tip: Tofu frying tips from Andrea Nguyen of Viet World Kitchen vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2012/06/tofu-frying-tips

3. Fried tofu in dashi sauce by Natsuko Kure

For this version you will need soft tofu, potato starch, Enoki mushroom, chives, salad oil, dashi broth and dashi flakes (make sure it is vegetarian), soy sauce, mirin and nori seaweed.

Tip: Drain your tofu the right way: Natsuko drains her tofu using the microwave. Visit her to see how she does it.

cookmap.com/en/recipes/agedashi-tofu-fried-tofu-in-dashi-sauce

Don’t these recipes sound delicious?

Next time I cook for my son, I’ll try draining the tofu as Natsuko suggests, as well as following some tips from Andrea on how to fry so I don’t get splattered with fat.

Have you made Japanese fried tofu? Which of the three recipes will you try?

And now I would like to invite you to follow me on Pinterest as I learn how to cook by trying various recipes.