Authentic Agedashi Tofu
Agedashi Tofu (揚げ出し豆腐) literally means “fried tofu in dashi,” and it’s one of those magical dishes where a few simple ingredients come together in a harmonizing synergy that elevates the dish from humble to the divine. It’s made with blocks of soft tofu that are coated in a thin layer of potato starch before being lightly fried. Then, the tofu is served in a savory dashi broth with a few garnishes, like scallions, daikon, nori, or ginger.
I know it sounds stupidly simple, and you’re probably wondering how it could possibly be as good as I describe. Still, a great Agedashi Tofu is like a perfect warm custard that melts on your tongue into a creamy pool of savory dashi, lightly accented by the garnishes. The magic is in the way the coating absorbs the flavorful dashi, seasoning the tofu, while also releasing some residual oil into the broth, imparting a hint of richness without being greasy.
How to Make Agedashi Tofu
Although it’s simple to prepare, it’s also easy to get wrong, and I’ve seen too many versions of this dish that are just plain awful. Agedashi Tofu should not be a tasteless pile of gummy mush, drowning in an insipid broth. Nor should it be a soggy battered grease bomb that tastes like stale donuts. It most certainly shouldn’t be a tough crispy sponge, smothered in a cloyingly sweet teriyaki sauce. If any of this sounds familiar, keep reading, and I’ll tell you how to make amazing Agedashi Tofu at home.
Like any simple dish, the most important thing is the quality of the ingredients. If you haven’t already, read the sections above on each component of the dish.
To prepare the tofu, I like to salt every surface of the tofu and let it sit while I prepare the other ingredients. This does two things. The first is that it helps rid the tofu of extra water through osmosis, this not only helps the starch coating crisp, it also prevents the tofu from splattering excessively when you fry it. The second benefit of salting the tofu is that it lightly seasons the tofu, which allows you to make the dashi less salty so that you can enjoy it as a soup along with the tofu. Once the excess water has come out, you can pat the tofu dry with paper towels and give each cube a light even coating of potato starch before frying them.
When frying the tofu, it’s essential to use fresh oil. Agedashi Tofu is not the kind of dish to make with oil that you want to get one last fry out of before you toss it out. It has a very delicate flavor profile, and if you use old oil, it will end up greasy and taste like all the things that have been fried in the oil before it. The temperature of the oil should also be relatively high. This ensures that the coating fries up crisp, without frying the tofu itself (which would give it a spongy texture).
Finally, when serving the Agedashi Tofu, I like to fill the bowl with just enough dashi, so it comes up about two-thirds of the way up the sides of the tofu. This allows the top to stay crisp, and you can choose whether you want to soak it in the dashi or not as you eat it.
Agedashi(揚げ出し) literally means “fried and soaked in dashi stock. It’s most commonly used to refer to a preparation for tofu, but other ingredients such as eggplant can prepared in this style (though it is usually referred to as Agebitashi when made with vegetables).
Agedashi tofu is 6 syllables and pronounced as follows:
a like all
ge like get
da like domino
shi like sheet
to like tone
fu like fool
Agedashi tofu is typically made with soft tofu (also sometimes called “silken”). The problem is that every manufacturer seems to have a different definition of “soft,” and I know of at least a few brands in the US where their “soft” is harder than the firm tofu we get in Japan.
The difference is that soft tofu is supposed to be produced using a different method from soft tofu. Making firm tofu is a bit like making cheese, where the soy milk is heated, and a coagulant is added. When it starts to form curds, it’s strained into a cloth-lined mold and then pressed with weights to remove excess water from the curds. This results in firm tofu with a chunky texture and strong soybean flavor.
Soft tofu, on the other hand, is made by adding the soymilk and coagulant to the mold and gently steaming it until it sets like a custard. This gives it a mild creamy flavor and a silky smooth texture that melts in your mouth. 
Before frying, the tofu is coated in potato starch. This crisps up after being fried and absorbs the sauce like a sponge to season the tofu. Potato starch works so well because the grains of starch are much larger than the grains of starch in cornstarch. It also has a higher ratio of amylopectin to amylose, which keeps it from getting gummy when soaked in the sauce. After soaking in the dashi, the potato starch will lose its crispness, but it absorbs the dashi in the process, creating a flavorful, nearly transparent skin that’s a bit like those translucent wrappers used for dim sum.
As the name implies, Agedashi Tofu is served with dashi broth that has been seasoned with soy sauce, salt, and a bit of sugar. The key to making a great sauce is using great dashi, so go check out my dashi recipe for more specifics on how to make dashi from scratch.
The traditional recipe for Agedashi Tofu calls for a fish-based dashi stock which makes it Pescatarian-friendly, but not vegan. The thing is, it is straightforward to make Agedashi Tofu vegan-friendly by using a shiitake mushroom dashi. You can check out my Kenchinjiru recipe for my method to make shiitake mushroom dashi. The ratios and seasonings stay the same, making it a one to one substitution. 
Popular Tofu Recipes
- Tofu Katsu
- Crispy Tofu Bites
- Tofu Karaage
- Ganmodoki (Tofu Fritters)
Ingredients
for tofu
-
400
grams
soft tofu
-
1/4
teaspoon
salt
-
vegetable oil (for frying)
-
1/4
cup
potato starch
for dashi
- 1 1/2 cups
-
2
teaspoons
soy sauce
-
1/2
teaspoon
granulated sugar
-
1/2
teaspoon
salt
garnishes
-
140
grams
daikon (peeled)
-
1
scallion (finely chopped)
-
1
small pack
katsuobushi (optional)
Steps
-
Slice the block of tofu in half one way, and then in half the other way to make 4 cubes. Sprinkle all sides of the tofu with the salt and then place the tofu on a wire-mesh tray or cooking rack to drain for 20-30 minutes. This step is very important as excess water will make the oil spatter when you fry it.
-
While you wait for the tofu to drain, season the dashi, by putting the dashi, soy sauce, sugar and salt into a small saucepan and heating the mixture until the salt dissolves. Cover to prevent evaporation and keep it warm over low heat on a back burner.
-
Grate the daikon using the rasp side of box grater (or a dedicated daikon grater if you have one), and then pour it into a small wire-mesh sieve, pressing on the solids to drain off any excess liquid.
-
When you're ready to fry the tofu, add 1 1/2 to 2 inches of vegetable oil into a heavy bottomed pot that's large enough to accommodate all the tofu and preheat to 360 degrees F (180 C). Prepare a wire rack lined with a triple layer of paper towels to transfer the tofu to when it's done frying. Add the potato starch to a plate.
-
When your oil has reached the correct temperature, dry the tofu off thoroughly using paper towels, and then roll each block of tofu in the potato starch to coat every side with a thin even layer of starch. Dust off the excess starch and gently lower each block of tofu into the oil.
-
Fry the tofu until the sides have crisped and then use chopsticks or tongs to gently roll each piece of tofu over onto the other side. The tofu is done when all sides are crisp and the tofu looks slightly puffy. It should not be browned.
-
Transfer to the prepared rack and let it drain for a few moments before plating each block of tofu into a small bowl.
-
Top with the katsuobushi, daikon, and scallions and then pour the hot dashi around the tofu.
Jon says
I’ve always felt like you can tell a lot about a Japanese restaurant in America based on how good their agedashi tofu is…but I sure failed making it myself the one time I tried. The soft tofu fell apart too easily during the frying process.
Maybe I’ll give it another go.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Jon, it does take a delicate touch to flip the tofu. Next time you may want to try nudging them from the side to roll them over rather than grabbing and flipping. Once it’s develops a bit of a crust on the outside it’s a little easier to handle.
Astra says
This tasted incredible. 🙂
I like how you go into detail explaining the best way to make it. Your recipe was much more helpful than the few other agedashi tofu recipes I read. Thanks!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Astra, I’m glad to hear you enjoyed! I try and explain the details here because that’s the most important part:-)
Amy says
Marc, I tried your recipe and it was amazing. I love the taste of Japanese wine in my sauces/dips so the only thing I added is some Sake to the Dashi sauce and it was just to taste. I never thought Agedashi Tofu can be soooo simple and delicious. It is now a staple in my menu in my observance of Lent. Thank you so very much for this!!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Amy, I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed this! Thanks for stopping by to let me know. Adding sake is a great way to boost the umami of the sauce while adding a mellow sweetness, good call!
aztcqn says
Wow! This fried tofu is sublime. And I don’t eat tofu or soy products, but, I’ll make the occasional exception for this. Crunchy crispy outside and soft melty inside. Absolutely a new found comfort food.
Thanks for the simple recipe and explanations. 🙂
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Aztcqn, I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed this. It’s one of my favorite comfort foods as well. Thanks for taking the time to let me know how it turned out!
Jackie Dosmann says
I can’t wait to try this! Please, can you tell me the approximate total frying time? I don’t want to over do it.
Thank you!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Jackie, the time depends on a lot of factors, but since tofu doesn’t need to be cooked, As long as the outside is crisp you’re good to go. You don’t want to get the exterior too brown, so when you crisp crust on the outside and it looks like the photos colorwise you’re good to go.
Alex says
I adore this flavors. I have done it topped with uni and the uni topped with jelly dashi. So the combination of hot and cold worked really well. Thank you for your work! It is great!
Marc Matsumoto says
Wow Alex, that’s a luxurious sounding Agedashi Tofu 🤤 What a great idea!
Wendy says
Hi Marc, What is the difference between ichimi, shichimi and nanami togarashi? Have you ever made togarashi? (Is it worth the pain to make it…) If not, would you consider creating a recipe? Thanks again for a great recipe!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Wendy, “Ichi” means “one”, both “nana” and “shichi” mean “seven”. “Mi” means “taste”. “Torgarashi” means “chili pepper”, so if you ask a Japanese person for Togarashi without specifying shichimi, you’ll just get chili peppers. So ichimi togarashi is a chili powder with only 1 taste (i.e. it only includes ground up chili peppers). And Shichimi/Nanami Togarashi has 7 flavors (the blend varies by brand). As for why some people call it shichimi and some people call it nanami, it’s a complicated explanation but put simply “shi” sounds like the word for death in Japanese, so some superstitious people prefer saying “nana” instead. There are a ton of things that can go into a blend, but the basic ingredients are usually, chili pepper powder, sesame seeds, aonori, dried shiso, dried Sansho pepper, dried yuzu peel, cannabis seeds, dried Ume powder. If you can get ahold of these ingredients it’s just a matter of blending them to your tastes, but I think most of these are pretty hard to get outside of Japan.
Wendy says
Wow, thanks for the explanation Marc! I live in the Bay Area (where you used to live), so I may have some luck in finding the ingredients. There are several good Japanese grocery stores near me. (Hmmm, and cannabis is legal in California…)
Marc Matsumoto says
That’s what I’m here for😉 Good luck with it! As for the seeds I’m not sure it’s the same kind of cannabis used for recreational purposes… it might be hemp?
Serena says
Hi Marc! I am dying to try this recipe and am wondering what brand of silken tofu you prefer to use? I don’t want to pick a brand that doesn’t make it properly! Thanks! 🙂
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Serena, I’m based in Japan so the brands I use here aren’t likely to be available elsewhere. The two brands I see almost everywhere that are pretty good are House Foods (sold in refrigerated plastic tubs), and Morinaga (sold in Tetrapacked cartons often at room temperature). The House Foods one is better, but Morinaga isn’t bad. Otherwise look for tofu with a smooth shiny surface without any texture or pitting. I hope that helps!
Marina says
I tried making it the other day, I held it with chopsticks and it got stuck to my chopsticks, is there anyway to fix this? Thx
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Marina, the starch is a little sticky when you first put it in the oil. If you leave it there for a while without touching it, it should form a crust and not be sticky.