Hot and cold, crispy and creamy, this Japanese pub dish has it all. The star of the dish, soft tofu, is lightly dusted in potato starch and then deep fried to crispy perfection. The mildly milky flavored tofu is placed into an umami rich dashi broth. Cold grated daikon radish cuts the fried tofu's richness and pulls the tofu and dashi flavors together. Also, the contrast between hot fried tofu and cold grated daikon adds to the experience of eating the dish. Thinly sliced raw scallions add a fresh savory accent to the dish. This is usually the end of the dish in most restaurants, because you would be ordering other dishes. But, I like to add some lightly steamed vegetables to the dish to make it into a full meal.

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Ingredients

You will need the following ingredients for 2 portions:
1 package Soft Tofu, drained and dried
1/2 cup potato starch
oil for frying
15 grams of Kombu
5 grams of Bonito Flakes
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 scallion thinly sliced
1 carrot thinly sliced
1/2 cup enoki mushrooms
1/2 cup grated daikon radish

Method

1. Make the dashi. Add the kombu into 1/2 liter of cold water and heat to nearly a boil. Just before it boils turn off the heat and remove the kombu. Add the bonito and let it steep for 5 minutes. Strain the dashi and season with two teaspoons of soy sauce. NOTE- This recipe for dashi is my variation of a classic recipe. In the book, Japanese Cooking, A Simple Art the recipe calls for equal parts of kombu and bonito. I find this ratio too "fishy" for this dish. So, I reduced the bonito to 1/3 of the original recipe. The resulting sauce has great umami flavor but lets the tofu shine as the main ingredient.

2. Lightly steam the carrots and mushrooms

3. Gently toss the tofu in the starch and shake off the excess starch. Fry the tofu in 350F oil until it is very crispy. This will take around five minutes.

4. Plate the dish as you like and enjoy.

I hope you have enjoyed this latest installment of my Japanese food series. This series will take you through my favorite dishes from Japan. Below are some links to the other posts in this series for you to enjoy and learn from.

Part 1
@chefsteve/japanese-food-series-part-1-ramen

Part 2
@chefsteve/japanese-food-series-part2-gyoza

Part 3
@chefsteve/japanese-food-series-part-3-chicken-karaage

Part 4
@chefsteve/japanese-food-series-part-4-okonomiyaki

I look forward to engaging with you about this dish in the comments section!
Steve