I really love fried tofu. Sometimes, I dust with my special fried chicken seasoning and fry. Mostly, I fix this simply. I serve it with several dipping sauces, such as a sweet garlic chili sauce or soy flavored with slivers of ginger, sesame oil, and sliced scallion. I personally just like it plain – hot and crispy on the outside, hot and almost custardy on the inside. A member of the 11/16 Society shared this with me years ago. It was one of our favorite appetizers to serve to visitors to our home. Some may say this isn’t authentic Japanese, but since he is authentic Japanese, I beg to differ.
This is not the Japanese agedashi dofu, which is usually served with a dashi broth or a soya dipping sauce. I suppose you could use these cubes in agedashi dofu. My friend enjoys this but like me, he just liked the fried tofu – neat!
Servings: 4 appetizer portions
1 block extra firm or firm tofu
cornstarch for dusting
peanut or other high temperature oil for frying.
Press the tofu down, leaving something heavy (such as a cutting board stacked with your heaviest cookbooks) on top to squeeze out as much moisture as you can. Cut the tofu into 1-inch cubes and dust lightly with cornstarch before frying.
