Tofu & Vegetable Agebitashi

(Deep-Fried and Marinated Tofu and Vegetables)

Ingredients

½ container Firm Aloha Tofu

flour as needed

choice of vegetables in season

(eggplants, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, lotus roots, burdock roots, shishito peppers, bell peppers, asparagus, snow peas, etc.)

oil for frying as needed

＊Ingredients for Marinating Sauce＊

2 cups dashi

4 tablespoons mirin

4 tablespoons usukuchi soy sauce

1-2 taka no tsume or hot red chili peppers, seeds removed

Cooking Directions

1.  Drain Tofu well and cut into bite-size pieces. 　

2.  Cut vegetables of your choice into bite-size pieces, soak vegetables containing strong bitterness (eggplant, sweet potatoes, lotus root, burdock root) in water to remove bitterness, then drain. 

3.  In a pot, bring dashi to a boil and season with mirin and soy sauce.  Set it aside in a bowl and add in hot red chili peppers. 

4. Coat tofu lightly with flour, and heat oil to a medium temperature and deep-fry until golden brown.  Then, deep-fry vegetables uncoated until they are cooked.  Marinate the deep-fried tofu and vegetables in the sauce for approximately 1 hour.  

Quick Tip

For those who are on a calorie-restricted diet, “yakibitashi (sautéed and marinated)” is recommended.  In that case, ingredients are pan-fried in a small amount of vegetable oil vs. deep-fried.  Please pan-fry tofu without flour coating.  Families with children can do without hot red chili peppers.