Tofu Dengaku

Dengaku is grilled tofu, and vegetable skewers with thick sweet and savory miso sauce, often considered common people's food.

Course Appetizer, snacks

Cuisine asian, Japanese

Keyword tofu, vegetarian, gluten-free, Japanese skewers, Japanese snacks

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 20

Servings people

Calories 1240kcal

Cost $7.00

Gather ingredients.
Grind toasted sesame seeds in Japanese mortar and pestle until smooth.
Add sugar, miso, garlic, ginger, and grind for some more until ingredients are well incorporated. Scraping the side with a spatula or wooden spoon.
Add mirin and half of soy sauce and mix well. Check for the thickness and gradually add the rest of the soy sauce until the sauce is thick but easy to spread. Note: make sure the sauce is not too runny, otherwise it will not stick to tofu. Add chili oil if using.
Store in a clean jar. It will keep for a week in the fridge.

In a sink or over a baking dish, press tofu between two cutting boards for 30 minutes to an hour. This is to drain any excess water from the tofu.
Heat oil in a pot over medium heat until 300 degrees. The oil should be deeper than the thickness of tofu.
Working one to two tofu at a time, pat dry tofu and gently deep fry until golden brown and crispy on the outside. Repeat until all the tofu has been fried. Drain them on a paper towel and now you have atsuage.

Turn the broiler on to medium-high.
Once the atsuage is cool enough to handle, slice each atsuage into halves, lengthwise. Skewer each tofu slice with bamboo skewers, facing the sliced side up.
Spoon the miso sauce on top of each tofu.
On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil, place skewered tofu. Broil the skewers until the top bubbles and browns a bit. Use a culinary torch to lightly brown the top if not using a broiler.
Remove from the broiler and sprinkle with sansho pepper or black sesame seeds (optional).

Nutritional information is an estimate only. Please view our website policies for more information.