Agedashi Tofu is the must-try appetiser from Japanese restaurants and Izakaya (Japanese pubs/tapas restaurants). Crispy outside, deep-fried soft tofu inside served with a sophisticatedly flavoured sauce called “Tsuyu”. This has a robust umami flavour and is a to die for Japanese dish! Furthermore, it is an unbelievably simple and easy dish to make. Let me show you how!
What is Agedashi Tofu?
Agedashi Tofu is a small piece of tofu dusted with Katakuriko potato starch and deep-fried. When the dusted katakuriko is deep-fried, it creates a crispy coating outside and the tofu stays soft inside. Nearly all Japanese restaurants serve Agedashi Tofu as it is a very popular menu item, along with Yakitori and Tsukune, not only in Japan but worldwide. I thought I would share my Agedashi Tofu recipe because it is easy and cheap to make.
What Do You Need?
You need the following ingredients to gather:
- Tofu
- Katakuriko (Potato Starch)
- Vegetable Oil for deep frying
- Dashi, shoyu, mirin and sugar for Tsuyu (sauce)
- Grated Daikon, ginger, chopped scallions, and shichimi togarashi for garnishing. These ingredients are optional so if you can not get them, you can leave them out. Though having said that, they definitely enhance the flavour of the entire dish.
Which Tofu?
They are not all the same. There are two types of tofu; Momen and Kinugoshi, which translated means, Firm and Silken. If you are interested to read more, I have explained the difference between those two types of Tofu in my Scrambled Tofu recipe. The better choice for Agedashi is Momen firm tofu.
What is Katakuriko?
Katakuriko 
is potato starch flour. It is often used in Japanese cooking to thicken any sauce. When you make mochi ice-cream, Daifuku mochi and Strawberry Daifuku, it is used to stop the mochi and dango from sticking together. You can purchase Katakuriko from any Asian or Japanese grocery store, or online stores such as Amazon.
How to Make Agedashi Tofu?
Here is the brief process of making Agedashi Tofu.
- Removing excess water Tofu usually contains water. You need to remove the excess water before you deep fry them. There are a few ways to do this job and I explain them further below.
- Deep fry the tofu Dust with Katakuriko potato starch and deep fry the tofu
- Make the Tsuyu sauce Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring it to boil to dissolve the sugar.
- Serve the Tofu Serve the tofu with garnish and pour the sauce over.
3 Methods to Remove Excess Water
You need to rely on your judgment on how much moisture to remove. So you want just enough water to keep the tofu delicately soft. However, not too much so that it would burst and splatter in the hot oil when deep-fried.
- Use a weight – Wrap with a sheet of kitchen paper towel and place a light weight over it. Leave for 20-30 minutes.
- Microwave – Wrap with a sheet of kitchen paper towel. Microwave it for a few minutes on 500w.
- Boiling method – It sounds strange but you can remove water off Tofu by boiling for 5 minutes. Drain the boiling water. Leaving the tofu on a sheet of kitchen paper.
5 Tips to Make Perfect Agedashi Tofu
- If you have the choice, use Momen Tofu (firm tofu).
- Remove excess moisture out from the Tofu naturally for 20-30minutes, by wrapping cut tofu pieces with paper towel.
- Cut tofu smaller so it is easy to deep fry.
- Dust tofu with Katakuriko (Potato starch) and remove excess potato starch with a brush just before deep fry.
- Deep fry them in oil, temperature 170°C for a few minutes.
Subtly Flavoured Delicious Broth to Serve with the Agedashi Tofu
Why is this deep-fried tofu so delicious? The secret is the subtly flavoured broth. The tofu itself does not have much taste, but the tofu and broth complement each other perfectly. The perfect balance. Together, this makes it so popular in Japan and throughout the world.
Super Easy To Make
Agedashi tofu is so very easy to make, but it has such a sophisticated flavour. Furthermore, it does not take a long time to cook.
Find Your Favourite Garnishes
The Agedashi Tofu tastes great in the broth along with some garnishes such as grated ginger, grated daikon, spring onions, and Shiso leaves. I also recommend to sprinkle a hint of “Shichimi Togarashi” if you like a little bit of spicy kick in your first bite.
What to Serve with?
Serve with deep-fried Shishito Peppers. It will not only taste good but it will also complement the flavours and create a visually pleasing dish. You need to be careful to not burst the Shishito peppers when you deep fry them. In order to avoid this, poke the shishito peppers with a small knife before deep-frying
Make it Completely Vegan
If you would like to make Agedashi Tofu completely vegan, you simply need to adjust the Tsuyu sauce. I used ordinary Bonito and Kombu Awase dashi. Instead, to make a vegan dish, use Shiitake dashi to make the Tsuyu sauce.
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Agedashi Tofu
Ingredients
- 300 g Firm Tofu
- 2 tbsp Katakuriko corn starch
- Cooking Oil to deep-fry
Sauce/Broth
- ½ cup dashi *1
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Mirin
- 1 tbsp sugar
Garnishing *2
- 5 cm of daikon grated or ¼ cup
- 1 scallions
- 1 piece ginger (grated)
- 1/4 tsp Shichimi Togarashi
- 1 tsp White sesame seeds to sprinkle *2
Instructions
- Remove the excess water out of the tofu by wrapping it in a paper towel and leaving it for about 20 minutes with a weight over the tofu.
- Cut the tofu 1.2inch x 1.6inch x 0.8inch (3cm x 4 cm x 2cm) *3
- Heat oil in a deep frying pan to 170°C.
- When the oil is ready, place the katakuriko onto a flat tray and dip each tofu into the katakuriko and dust off excess with a brush. *4
- Deep-fry 4 pieces of the tofu at a time for a few minutes.
- Take deep fried tofu pieces out of the oil and leave it on a paper towel to drain the excess oil.
- Make the sauce by putting all the ingredients into a sauce pan.
- Over a medium heat, bring the all broth ingredients to boil, then turn the heat off and set aside.
- Place the fried tofu into a serving bowl and top with the toppings then pour the sauce over the top.
Notes
Nutrition
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I only have corn starch and instant dashi granules. I used grape seed oil. I think it turned out fairly well. The sauce/broth is great and very easy to make. Yum! Thanks for the cooking lesson!
Thank you so much for this delicious recipe Shihoko. Your website is brilliant!
Agadashi Tofu is my absolute favourite.
We live in Tasmania, that little island at the bottom of Australia. Living here is like paradise, except we don’t have any Japanese restaurants close by, the nearest one is 4 hours drive away! Thankfully, we have an Asian grocer so I am going to try all of your recipes!
I was so excited when I absolutely nailed it with the Agadashi Tofu.
Hi Karen, you are welcome, Tasmania is the place I would like to visit one day and live actually 😀
So excited to make this
Hey Frankie, you will like it 😀
delicious!!! I didn’t have garnish ingredients but I put on top some dried seaweeds, it works very well!
Thank you for making my Agedashi Tofu recipe Miki 😀
Your Agedashi Tofu looks absolutely delicious! I’m going to make it to take to a dinner but was wondering if I should pour the sauce right after cooking the tofu or is it better to pour the sauce just before serving a couple hours later?
Hi Charlie Thank you 😀 Yes, pour the sauce just before serving.
How come it only got 83 calories even if it’s fried?
I loved this dish so much, the Japanese Food restaurant I used to go serves the best agedashi tofu, but now it’s closed 🙁
I really want to try making this, but I thought it would be high on calories since it’s fried..
Thank you!
Hi Shelley because the oil is not included in the calculation as it is noted in the recipe notes. I measured once before and the oil absorption was about 15g (about 1tbsp) which is approximately 120cal for ordinary vegetable oil. It is for 2 serves so divide by 2 = 60. Add 60 to 83 = 143 cal 😀
Thank you for the reply! Sorry I took too long to reply it..
So, 4 pieces fried is 143 cal? That’s quite small!
How do you measure the oil absorption? Do you weigh it before you fried it? So that I would know how to measure when I’m frying food later, thank you!
Hi Shelley, it depends on how many pieces you cut. I used 300g of Tofu all together and that serves two. The calorie is per serve not per piece.
Hello! Thank you for replying!
So, per 4 pieces is only 140 cal? That’s so little!
Btw, could you tell me how to calculate the oil absorption? Thanks!
I measure the weight of oil before and after 😀
Ah, you mean you measure the oil before frying, then after you frying, you measure how much it is left?
Example, you fry with 100ml oil, then after frying, you measure it again, I’ll say maybe 80ml is left
So you’re saying like then the tofu absorbs 20ml of oil? Like that?
Yes Shelley 😀
Thank you for this recipe! Its delicious!!! The video and instructions are easy and so helpful!
Hi Kathy you are welcome 😀
I don’t understand recipe for sauce? Is the dashi made from made from shiitake? It isn’t clear for me.. I was at Asian store and saw hondashi soup stock.. I guess it would t make it vegan?? Anyways can u please explain 🙂
Hi Stacie, if you want to make it Vegan, you need to make dashi stock out of Shiitake. Hondashi soup stock you saw at Asian store is made from bonito so it isn’t vegan. If you can find shiitake dashi stock powder, it will be good, but if you can’t find dashi powder made out of Shiitake, you need to make shiitake dashi stock from scratch. I explained about dashi in in this post here.
Thank you for this because I am awful when it comes to making tofu crispy.
You are welcome 😀 Thank you Sandi
This is just incredible! Thank you for the amazing recipe!
You are welcome 😀
Thank you! This is a delicious recipe. I made it for a party today, and it was a big hit!
Hi Ben 😀 You are welcome. I am glad to know your party went well with Agedashi Tofu 😀
I’ve never cooked tofu before, but now I can’t wait to try this!
Hi Tayler, Try it very soon. You will love it 😀
I’ve never had agedashi tofu! But you have made this dish look so intriguing and flavorful! I will have to try it
Hi Tisha 😀 Yes you should give it a go, you will like it 😀
This recipe is awesome, made it last night and everyone loved it! thank you
You are welcome Noelle 😀 I am glad to know that everyone loved it 😀
Thank you so much for the great recipe! Cooked it tonight and it is simply so good. This is my favourite Japanese food. I think Koi restaurant Bangkok is the best Japanese food restaurant in Bangkok.
Hi Jeremy Thank you for trying out this recipe. Does Koi restaurant serve Agedashi Tofu? I think it would 😀
So good i like it !
thank you!
Hi! Where can I find kombutsuyu?
Hi Vivian, Sorry for late reply. I have been traveling and is not in free wifi environment. I add Konbu Dashi in my shop page. That is the konbu dashi I use.
Hello! This looks good! Where do I find kombutsuyu? I tried Amazon and didn’t find it.
Hi Vivian, sorry for late reply. I have added the Konbu dashi in my shop page 😀 hope it helps.
Thank you!
What a wonderful recipe. I just love your site!
Thank you Lis:D
Yum, I love agedashi tofu. Your photos look beautiful, the composition with the two whole bowls is so lovely and lively! 🙂
Thank you so much Nicole:D!I had one on one workshop with Nagi on Tuesday and learnt so much. When you have time please look at Okara too<3