Fried Tofu Yakitori

Serves: 4

Ready in: 60 mins +

Yakitori is of course skewered chicken grilled over charcoal, and some would prefer the word not to be used outside of this context. This dish, though, matches the original in shape, colour and flavour, so deserves to steal the name. Deep-fried tofu cubes can be bought as a block, and make this quick dish easy work – and so juicy! Japan: The World Vegetarian by Reiko Hashimoto (Bloomsbury Absolute, £20) is published on 30 April, 2020. Photography by Polly Webster.

Ingredients
Method

Ingredients:

500ml vegetarian dashi stock (see below), or 1 tsp kombu dashi powder mixed with 500ml hot water
80ml soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp sake
300g deep-fried tofu cubes
2 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil
1 green pepper, stalk and core removed, cut into large pieces
1 red pepper, stalk and core removed, cut into large pieces
1 yellow pepper, stalk and core removed, cut into large pieces
1 tbsp black and/or white sesame seeds
sea salt
4 wooden skewers, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes before using

To serve:

sansho pepper
shichimi pepper

For 1 litre of vegetarian dashi stock:

15g dried kombu
15g dried shiitake mushrooms

method:

To make the dashi stock, place the kombu and shiitake mushrooms in a saucepan with 1.5 litres of cold water and leave to soak for 3–5 hours. Place the pan over a medium heat and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes, or until the liquid has reduced down by about one-third. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Strain the stock through a fine colander or colander lined with muslin to remove the scum. Squeeze out the shiitake mushrooms to get the last bit of flavoursome stock.
To make the yakitori, heat the dashi stock, soy sauce, sugar, mirin, sake and a pinch of salt in a large pan and bring to the boil.
Meanwhile, pour boiling water over the deep-fried tofu and leave to sit for five minutes – this step will remove excess grease from the tofu. Drain and gently squeeze out any excess water.
Add the tofu cubes to the stock and immediately turn the heat down. Cook for 15–20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tofu soaks up some of the stock. Turn off the heat and leave the tofu in the pan to cool – it will continue to drink up the stock during this time.
Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a frying pan and stir-fry the peppers for 4–5 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside to cool.
Thread a tofu cube onto the skewer followed by a pepper piece, then alternate until the skewer is full, leaving 5cm at one end and finishing with a piece of tofu.
Heat a large frying pan with the remaining oil and arrange the skewers in the pan. Allow to heat through over a medium heat for two minutes on each side, until slightly caramelised. Alternatively, place under a grill.
Plate up and sprinkle over the sesame seeds. Serve immediately with sansho pepper and/or shichimi pepper on the side.

Print Recipe www.bloomsbury.com/uk/japan-the-world-vegetarian-9781472972958/