How to make Atsuage (and more!)

so tofu is one of my favorite foods…
There is something about this shape and color.



It became very popular over the years, and there are so many ways to enjoy this majestic ingredient, but today, I decided to make ATSUAGE (deep fried tofu).



1. I think Med-firm tofu is the best for deep frying.  I love soft and silken, but it is harder to deep fry!  I used one med-firm.



2. We need to get rid of  excess water from the tofu.  Use a paper towel to wrap it like you wrap gifts, and place it onto a plate. 



3. Then place another heavy plate on top of it so it will quicken the process of expelling its water.  (Leave this in a fridge for 2-3 hours).



4. It became somewhat thinner and dense.  So I will slice this guy in half. 



5.  I remind you this is a very fragile ingredient to work with.  So handle it with great care!



6. We don’t need too much oil, but we are deep frying these! So pour an inch or so into a pan!



7. After we heat the oil to 350F, we are going to place the tofu in the pan, again with great care.



8. 8-9min on each side.



9. So this is what the end result looks like.  And there are several ways to enjoy this.  Since I was craving something soupy, I made some dashi soup and grated daikon ;)  This is a little bit different than agedashi tofu, which I will cover some other time!