Agedashi Tofu

Name: Agedashi Tofu
Total time: 25 min
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Japan
Ingredients: 1 (14 oz / 400 g) block silken tofu; ½ cup (65 g) potato starch (katakuriko); 4 cups (1 L) neutral oil for frying; 1½ cups (360 ml) dashi; 3 tbsp soy sauce; 3 tbsp mirin; ¼ cup finely grated daikon, squeezed dry; 1 tbsp finely grated ginger; 2 scallions, thinly sliced; 2 tbsp katsuobushi (bonito flakes)

Japanese · Medium · Serves 4 as a starter

Agedashi tofu is restaurant magic in four elements: a crisp-fried block of silken tofu, a savory broth it sits in, and two garnishes — grated daikon and ginger — that turn fried food into something delicate. The broth is the dish; the fry is just the texture that delivers it.

Quantities live in the recipe card.

The tofu

The broth (agedashi)

The garnish

- **Drain the tofu patiently.** Silken tofu is 90% water; 30 minutes on paper towels (with a weightless rest, changed paper once) firms the surface so the starch coat adheres. Freeze-then-thaw makes a completely different (spongy) tofu — a fine technique, wrong for this dish. - **The bridge:** cornstarch makes a glassy, delicate shell; potato starch makes it slightly more durable. Either is authentic. Flour is the failure — it turns pasty.

Step 1. **Dust and fry (3 minutes total).** Roll each drained cube in starch, shaking off the excess. Lower into 180 °C oil and fry without touching 90 seconds, until the shell is pale gold and blistered, then turn for another 60–90 seconds. Drain on a rack. Checkpoint — the shell should be thin and glassy — you should almost see the tofu through it — and it should hold its shape under the broth for the first minutes of service. Deep gold means too thick a coat.

Step 2. **Assemble in the bowl, not the plate.** Warm the broth to a bare simmer with soy, mirin, and sugar — taste it: salt first, then sweetness, then the sea. In each serving bowl, place a mound of the squeezed daikon and half the ginger, set the hot tofu on top, and pour the broth around (not over) the tofu. Checkpoint — the broth should come halfway up the tofu's side — the fry stays crisp above the line and drinks below it, which is the dish's intended dual texture. Scatter the scallion, bonito, and sesame over. Chef’s Note — the order is the architecture: broth poured around, daikon under the tofu, garnish over. The daikon's job is physical as much as flavor — it lifts the tofu so the bottom stays crisp, and its juice seasons the broth from below. Every element is doing two jobs, which is why a dish with four ingredients tastes like six.

Agedashi Tofu

Prep: 20 minutes, plus 30 minutes draining · Cook: 10 minutes · Total: About 1 hour · Serves 4 as a starter

Ingredients

The tofu

600 g silken or soft tofu, cut into 6 cubes, drained on paper 30 minutes
50 g cornstarch or potato starch, for dusting
Neutral oil for frying, 3 cm deep, at 180 °C

The broth (agedashi)

300 ml dashi (from 10 g kombu and 5 g katsuobushi, or water + dashi granules), warmed
2 tbsp soy sauce (about 30 ml), 2 tbsp mirin, 1 tsp sugar
100 g daikon, grated and squeezed; 1 tsp grated ginger

The garnish

1 spring onion, finely sliced; a pinch of bonito flakes; 1 tsp sesame seeds or a few drops of chili oil

Instructions

**Dust and fry (3 minutes total).** Roll each drained cube in starch, shaking off the excess. Lower into 180 °C oil and fry without touching 90 seconds, until the shell is pale gold and blistered, then turn for another 60–90 seconds. Drain on a rack. Checkpoint — the shell should be thin and glassy — you should almost see the tofu through it — and it should hold its shape under the broth for the first minutes of service. Deep gold means too thick a coat.
**Assemble in the bowl, not the plate.** Warm the broth to a bare simmer with soy, mirin, and sugar — taste it: salt first, then sweetness, then the sea. In each serving bowl, place a mound of the squeezed daikon and half the ginger, set the hot tofu on top, and pour the broth around (not over) the tofu. Checkpoint — the broth should come halfway up the tofu's side — the fry stays crisp above the line and drinks below it, which is the dish's intended dual texture. Scatter the scallion, bonito, and sesame over.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	Fix
Shell soggy in seconds	Tofu under-drained, broth poured over	30 minutes draining; broth around the block
Tofu broke in the oil	Rough handling, soft tofu	One careful slide in; do not touch until set
Broth one-dimensional	Missing mirin-sugar balance	Taste: salt-then-sweet order; adjust by teaspoons

Storage, Make-Ahead & Variations

- The broth keeps 3 days and improves; tofu is fried to order (fried cubes hold 10 minutes on a rack at most). Grated daikon keeps 1 day. - Variations: a mushroom-and-kombu broth for the vegan version; a spoon of the khao soi broth (#2) for the fusion direction — the fried shell's neutrality is the invitation.