ABC-Cooking

I leave the washoku cooking universe for a bit, and explore is opposite side: yoshoku cooking. It’s what points out the occidental recipes that Japanese people changed with japanese ingredients, way of cooking etc.

These fries are made with firm tofu that has been marinated and then coated before deep frying: absolutely gorgeous ! I am sure that it would make hesitating people love tofu

The idea comes from the fabulous book I borrowed at the Vancouver Public Library (I looooove this library, so useful for me) before someone will generously offer it to me (did I tell you it’s my birthday in less than two weeks now ? ): Yoshoku, by Jane Lawson. I love this book.

I divided the proportions by two, because we only were three persons (my daughters didn’t want some, even if they both like tofu in general). It is the proportion I will give you, so if you want more, you just have to double everything.

The author suggestes to serve these fries with a sauce made with japanese mayonnaise, lemon juice and mitsuba (a kind of japanese parsley). I’ll try next time (but I don’t know where to purchase mitsuba in Vancouver, by the way).

The recipe calls for potato starch, but I only have corn starch, so that is what I used.

Ingredients:

• 500g block firm tofu
• 1 tablespoon white miso
• 1 tablespoon chili sesame oil
• 30ml soy sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 87g potato or corn starch
• 1 tablespoon schichimi togarashi (seven-spice japanese mix)
• ground pepper

First of all, wrap tofu in a clean tea towel and put it in a bowl. Put a plate on the top of the block, sit a heavy tin on top and weight down for 2 hours; it will extract the excess moisture. Then, unwrap and pat dry.
Cut into 1,5cm (5/8in) thick slices, then cut the slices into fingers (1,5/2cm), wide.

Make the marinade: combine the chili sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and miso in a bowl, until smooth.
Pour half into a large non-metallic dish; add the tofu and then the remaining sauce. Carefully shake the dish to coat the tofu with marinade (the tofu is fragile, so be careful).
Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight, so the flavours will be absorbed by the tofu; shake occasionnally to help disperse the marinade.

When ready to cook, fill a deep-fat fryier pan or deep heavy-based saucepan one third full of oil (canola oil is the best for deep frying), heat to 350°F (180°C) or until a cube of bread dropped in the oil become brown in 15 seconds.

Combine the starch with the seven-spice mix, season with a little bit of salt and pepper.

Gently scrape any excess marinade from the tofu fingers, dip them into the seasoned starch (I used a big resealable bag, very useful !) and gently shake off any excess.
Cook in several batches for 5-6 minutes, or until golden brown. Drain well on paper towels; sprinkle with salt and possibly with extra seven-spice mix.

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