Appetizers / Soups / Salads

Agedashidofu is a traditional Japanese tofu dish. Deep fried tofu is served with dashi-based sauce. This is a recipe to make basic agedashidofu and kombo dashi stock. Dashi is Japanese stock, which becomes the base of many Japanese dishes, such as soup, dipping sauce, and nimono (simmered dishes). Dashi is often used in Japanese cooking. There are different kinds of dashi. It can be made from kombu (dried kelp), katsuo-bushi (dried bonito) flakes, niboshi (dried small sardines), hoshi-shiitake(dried shiitake mushrooms), and more. Kombu dashi and dried shiitake mushroom dashi are known as good vegetarian stocks. It might take extra effort to make dashi, but good dashi makes your Japanese dishes taste much better. Also, if you don't have much time, instant dashi powder is also available at stores. Usually, about 1 tsp of dashi powder is used for 3 to 5 cups of water. Follow the instructions in the packages. Dashi powder includes some salt, so adjust the flavor of dishes as needed. You can add vegetables and mushrooms in the sauce if you would like.