Ingredients:
One block soft tofu
Corn starch
Oil for deep frying
Tentsuyu Sauce:
3/4 cup (185 ml) dashi or Japanese fish stock
4 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons sake
2 tablespoons mirin
3/4 tablespoon sugar
Toppings:
Peeled and grated daikon
Peeled and grated ginger (optional)
Sliced green onions/scallions
Dried bonito flakes/katsuobushi
Method:
Cut the tofu into small pieces. Bloat each with paper towels and coat with corn starch. Set aside.
Bring all the ingredients of tentsuyu sauce to gentle simmer in a small sauce pan. Do not bring to a full boil.
Heat up the oil in a wok a frying pan and deep fry to tofu until they turn light brown or crispy. Please take note that the corn starch coating will not turn to golden brown easily. Remove the deep-fried tofu and drain the excess oil on a plate lined with paper towels.
To serve, place a few pieces of tofu in a small bowl and pour some tentsuyu sauce on the tofu. Garnish with some grated daikon, chopped scallions and dried bonito flakes. Serve immediately.
Cook’s Note:
Dashi:
8 cups water
2 (6-inch) pieces kombu
1 1/2 oz. dried, shaved bonito
Method:
Add the water and the water kombu to a stock pot and let it steep for 30 minutes.
Place the stockpot over medium heat and bring it to a boil. Remove the kombu and add the bonito and stir it once to mix in. As soon as the liquid boils again, decrease the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove any scum that appears on the surface.
Turn off the heat and let the liquid steep for 15 minutes. Strain it through a fine sieve or cheesecloth. Don’t squeeze the bonito flakes because it would make the dashi cloudy. Discard the bonito flakes after use.
If you don’t want to make dashi from scratch, you can use bottled dashi shoyu or dashi soy sauce from Japanese market and add mirin, sake, and sugar to taste to make the stock.
