Grilled atsuage "fried tofu" 焼き厚揚げ

There are two kinds of fried tofu: "Abura-age" 油揚げ, literally means "fried in oil" and "Atsu-age"  厚揚げ, fried thick tofu. The difference between the two is that "abra-age" is a thin tofu piece  completely cooked with no raw tofu left in the center. It can be opened into a pouch which can be stuffed with other ingredients. "Atsu-age" or sometimes called "Nama-age" 生揚げ is a much thicker tofu piece and the center is still uncooked tofu. I usually do not buy this since the ones available are very poor quality since the tofu itself is rather poor quality.  This time, however, I found a Japanese brand atsu-age in our Japanese grocery store and bought it. I thought I never posted "atsu-age" and started writing this post but when I searched for "abura-age" in my blog, I realized that I did blog "atsu-age" 6 years ago. So, this is a bit of a repeat. This one comes from "Soumo-ya" 相模屋 in Maebashi, Gunnma prefecture 前橋市群馬県. This one is made from "Kinugoshi" 絹ごし or silken tofu.

The package contained two squares as seen  below. I toasted this in our toaster oven for 5 minutes on each sides  (I placed in metal grate on aluminum foil lined metal tray).

When you cut it, the surface is fried and brown but the center is still uncooked.

I garnished it with finely sliced scallion and ginger soy sauce.

I also added blanched rapini buds with sesame soy sauce ごま醤油.

Especially since I have not had this for some time, this tasted really good. The surface is nicly crunchy after tasting and the center is hot and silky soft. Hope our grocery store will regularly carry this.

Persimmon, smoked oyster shira-ae 薫製牡蠣と柿の白和え

Actually, this was inspired by a dish we had at Sushi Taro Omakase and then by a variation that was in the 2020 osechi box and was called "kaki kaki kunsei" (Smoked oyster and persimmon). In Japanese, persimmon is "Kaki" with flat intonation and oyster is "Kaki" with an accent on "ki", so this was a sort of play on words. The quality of the smoked oysters and persimmon are important. The oysters used by Sushi Taro were smoked in-house and were wonderful. The persimmon was perfection. The osechi version of this dish (picture below) had a light olive oil-based dressing and was also extremely good. In the case of the dish I made, the importance of the quality of ingredients was driven home in spades. Both the oysters and the persimmon were not really great but the basic recipe is good so after several iterations we finally came up with a dish that was not bad.

We found a package of "kaki" persimmon 柿 from California at Whole Foods. It looked like "Shibu-gaki" 渋柿 meaning "puckering persimmon". But these must have been treated. There are multiple ways this could have been done. For example it could have been treated with carbon dioxide since this was apparently commercially done. (The "at-home" treatment to reduce the puckering effect is usually to wait until the persimmon is completely ripe and becomes somewhat gelatinous). The advertisement on the package stated "you can eat it as it is" and showed a cherub of a boy eating it like an apple.

Since the persimmon we bought were supposedly ready to eat, we tried it. It was still hard. Although it was not puckering, the "persimmon" flavor was not as pronounced as we would have liked. As the first iteration of trying this persimmon,  I made "shira-ae" 白和え a very common small dish which I blogged previously.

For the next iteration I served the persimmon with canned smoked oysters as my attempt to emulate what we had at Sushi Taro. Unfortunately, the canned smoked oysters which came from China and were bought at our local grocery store (shown as the bottom can in the picture below) were, as far as we were concerned, not suitable for human consumption. The oysters were fragmented, almost black in color and tasted terrible. They completely ruined the dish.

For the third iteration I used smoked canned oysters in olive oil from Whole Foods (shown as the top can in the picture above). (We didn't look to see where they came from). These were infinitely better than the previous batch. They were plump, whole and had a nice smokey flavor. This dish is shown below.

The strong smokey taste of the oysters and the sweetness of the persimmon' with the gentle sesame punctuated flavored dressing of tofu worked well.

This was one of three small starter dishes I served one evening with cold sake.

Of the other two dishes, the left most is fried salmon in sweet vinegar 鮭の南蛮漬け. I garnished it with sushi vinegar dressed cucumber キュウリの酢の物.

The center dish is my usual mackerel simmered in miso サバの味噌煮.

Ingredients:
One persimmon peeled and cut into bite sized pieces (below left).
One can of smoked oysters in olive oil.

For the Shira-ae dressing 白和え (below right)
1/4 silken tofu, wrapped in paper towel and weighted down to remove extra moisture.
1 tsp miso (or to taste)
1/4 tsp roasted sesame seeds, ground in a Japanese suri-bachi すり鉢 mortar.
1/4 tsp of light colored soy sauce

Directions:
Add all the shira-ae ingredients to a Japanese suribachi mortar and grind them until smooth (above right). Taste and if need adjust the seasoning.
Dress the persimmon pieces and top with the oysters. (I blotted off any excess oil and cut the oysters into two pieces.

Compared to the first try with oysters, this second try was much better. (As good as it was it did not hold a candle to the Sushi Taro version).  I do not think this type of persimmon is particularly good for this dish. I prefer another kind of non-puckering persimmon called  "ama-gaki"甘柿. It has a better texture, is sweeter, and has a stronger distinctive persimmon flavor. In any case, the contrast of the flavor of the persimmon with tofu dressing and smokey oyster flavors worked well enough.

Baked tofu namerou 豆腐のなめろう

This is an interesting recipe I saw in the new Izakaya cookbook called "The real Izakaya cookbook". This is supposedly "namerou" but instead of fish (usually blue skinned fish like mackerel), this recipe uses tofu--not raw but baked. I served this with warm sake. Recently, I am fond of having "Hakutsuru" junmai sake 白鶴純米 as warm sake.

This "namerou" is, as I said, actually baked. The original recipe just said "spread on aluminum foil and bake". I thought it would stick to the foil, so I put it on parchment paper which turned out to be a wise move. I was able to remove it from the pan just by using the edges of the paper to lift it.  I cut it into the two portions, still on the paper, as seen below. (The edges of the parchment paper are just visible.)

With this, I served my ususal mackerel simmered in miso. I also served marinated spicy tofu.

This recipe came from an Izakaya cookbook I recently acquired. The book has mostly standard Izakaya recipes but there are some interesting and unique dishes. I will make some more dishes and will include the description of this cookbook the Izakaya cookbook section of this blog. Again, I changed the amounts and made some modification since I did not have myouga)

Ingredients: (For two small servings, the original recipe used a 12 oz block of tofu, and myouga. I didn't have myouga or any thing I thought I could use as a substitute. I added Italian parsley)

Silken tofu 5oz (140g)(#1) To remove excess moisture I wrapped it in a paper towel and put it between 2 cutting boards to weight it down. The upper cutting board was heavy and wooden. I left it that way for 1 hour (#2).
Ginger root, grated (or from tube) 1/4 tsp
One egg yolk (#3)
1 tbs miso (#3)
1/2 tsp soy sauce (#3)
1 spring onion, finely chopped
1 sprig Italian parsley, stem removed and finely chopped (optional, if available use myouga)

Direction:
Using a knife, I chopped and mixed all ingredients (#4).
Spread thinly on parchment paper (this was my addition, without it the namerou would most likely stick to the aluminum foil) on aluminum foil covered baking sheet.
Bake at 400F for 10 minutes (#5, I used my toaster oven on convection mode).
Lift the baked namerou using two ends of the parchment paper, cut into two squares and serve hot with the parchment paper still attached (#6)

This is indeed a very unique and interesting dish. I could have seasoned it a bit more aggressively (more miso) and a hint of sweetness (maybe mirin instead of soy sauce) may have worked better. This is not like "nameous" made from raw fish like mackerel but still, a quite good small dish that goes well with sake.

Another five "otoshi" appetizers お通し５種類

This is another example of 5 starting appetizers. This time, all five items were made by me--no store bought. Again, I used the long rectangular plates with five depressions.

From left to right; spicy tofu cubes ぴり辛豆腐, chicken square with dried fruit and gorgonzola cheese *ドライフルーツとゴルゴンゾーラチーズ松風焼き topped with figgy cranberry sauce イチジククランベリーソース.

*Instead of the usual dried figs, I used a combination of hydrated dried fruits (peach, pear, apricot and prune)

Sugar snaps blanched and soaked in dashi seasoned with salt スナップ豌豆の塩びたし and Cauliflower Montparnasse モンパルナスのカリフラワー. The next is  blanched  broccoli rabe and dressed with mustard soy sauce and wedge of Campari tomato skinned.

Finally, pork meat ball with ricotta and parmesan cheese  リコッタチーズ入りミートボール with my home made marinara sauce.

I heated up the tofu, chicken squares, and meat balls in the toaster oven. This is a good combination of vegetables and proteins.

First myoga harvest in 3 years 三年ぶりの茗荷の収穫

We could not harvest our myoga (myouga) 茗荷 for the past three years due to various obstacles . More recently, most of our myoga plants disappeared for some reason. Possibly the rabbits ate them. (They did have signs of being tasted by some critter before they disappeared).  Or more likely,  they were removed by mistake by our gardener's nephew who was helping out with the fall clean-up. (I suppose they looked "weedy"; not like something we should have in the garden and they were taking over, which was OK with us).  We tried to purchase some myoga though the internet without success. So when our landscaper came to do some work in our yard this year we asked if he could get us some replacement myoga. He kindly gave us 4 myoga plant/rhizomes from his father's myoga patch (his father is a retired master Japanese garden landscaper).  We thankfully planted them this spring. Just to give a clear message to all involved (rabbits and especially gardener's nephews) we surrounded the plants with stakes and a plastic mesh fence to make it clear that these were not plants to be messed with.  In any case, later in the spring we discovered a few straggler myoga from the previous batch which we think survived because they were "hiding" behind and amongst other plants.

We have posted many uses of myoga including picked myoga. We still have some pickles left from 3 years ago in our refrigerator.  We are still enjoying them despite the fact they are "refrigerator pickles". They are still quite good and show no sign of going bad. But it is time to look for the new harvest. One weekend, my wife donned her  mosquito suit. On hands and knees with head buried in the plants, scrabbled into the dirt with her hands to uncover the buried flower buds of the myoga which is the part that is eaten. (They have to be harvested before they emerge from the ground. Once they bloom they become soft and mushy and aren't good.) It is not a pleasant task...but, hey, we really like myoga!  She found three developing buds (see below) from the old surviving myoga plants but none from newly planted myoga. (We'll probably have to wait until next year for them to be established enough to produce buds.)

My wife also said she uncovered a few very premature buds and covered them up again so they could grow bigger. We should wait for few more weeks to hopefully get a better harvest. In any case, we have not had fresh myoga for some time.  So, I served this as a garnish for cold "hiya-yakko" tofu 冷や奴.

The tofu is, as usual, one of the "Otokomae" 男前 tofu. I also garnished with chiffonade of perilla. For sauce, I used the usual, concentrated noodle sauce from the bottle.

Myogo may be acquired taste but we really love it especially fresh and it was wonderful to have their taste again. It has a very unique flavor that is hard to describe and there is no equivalent to which to compare it. Hope we will have more myoga harvest this year.

"Nori" tsukuda-ni and natto 海苔の佃煮納豆

I saw this recipe in one of the food blogs I follow. It involves natto and "nori tsukuda-ni" 納豆と海苔の佃煮.   I am all for new recipes involving natto. So, I had to try this.

"Nori" 海苔 is several types of edible seaweed which are mostly aqua-cultured. If one hears "nori", most people think of a black sheet of paper-like dry product, which is an essential ingredient in making sushi especially rolled sushi. But fresh or salt-preserved "nori" is available in Japan and my favorite was its use in "fresh nori miso soup" なま海苔の味噌汁. Another popular "nori" product is "nori tsukuda-ni" 海苔の佃煮. When I was growing up (or even now), one particular "nori tuskudani" brand by "Momo-ya" 桃屋 called "Edo-murasaki" 江戸むらさき (meaning "Edo purple*") was most popular.  It was/is sold as a condiment for rice or "go-han" ごはん. As a kid, I did not like it since it tasted almost "chemical" to me. I've known for some time that I could get "nori tsukudani" at our Japanese grocery store but I did not even consider it until I read this recipe. I just had to try it. So, I got a jar, mixed it with natto and topped cold silken tofu with the mixture. For  "just-to-make-sure", I added a healthy dollop of the nori tsukudani on top as a garnish (shown as dark jelly like substance in the picture below).

*"Edo purple or Edo-murisake": Is the brand name for  "nori tsukuda-ni". It's made by cooking and reducing seaweed in mirin and soy sauce among other ingredients. Japanese refer to the color of soy sauce as "purple" which is also considered an auspicious or regal color. In certain situations, "murasaki" could mean "soy sauce". The method to make "tsukuda-ni" is said to have originated in "Tsukuda island" 佃島 which is located in Chuo ward 中央区 of current day Tokyo or Edo (the old name of Tokyo). In addition, Tokyo bay was (or may be "is") famous for cultivating "nori".  So, it is apt to name "nori tsukudani" as "Edo purple".

The below is a picture of the jar of  "nori tuskudani" I got. In addition to the brand name "Edo-murasaki", the package has an additional name; "Gohan-desuyo!" ごはんですよ！.  According to Japanese Wikipedia and the company website, this version was added to their usual product line-up  in 1972 (or 1973) . "Gohan-desuyo!" was added to the name to represent a variation from the original product (which they still produce) resulting in something that was not cooked as long and was more moist. This phrase could be translated as "Dinner is served! or YO! Chow-time!". "Gohan" literally means cooked rice but "cooked rice" is also equivalent  to "dinner" for Japanese. The label also states made with 100% domestic "nori" (in this case domestic must mean Japanese).

This appears to be an improved version from the one of my childhood. I tasted a bit before mixing it into the natto. It tasted better than I remembered. I am not sure if this is purely due to a change in my perception i.e. adult taste buds, or the changed and improved recipe mentioned in Wikipedia. I mixed it into the natto using my handy-dandy natto stirrer (shown here as white sticks). I also added finely chopped scallion. I did not add any soy sauce since "nori tsukudani" is salty.

This was pretty good but I am not sure this is particularly outstanding from the regular way of preparing natto. Or as my wife said, "It's edible but I wouldn't walk down the block to get seconds". Nonetheless this re-introduced me to "nori tuskudani". I may try it on freshly cooked white rice next time.

”Otsumami” appetizer snacks 酒の肴（おつまみ）

This is another rendition of the appetizer snacks we had. I went to our Japanese grocery store the day before which made serving many small dishes easy. I used small lidded bowls and small crane plate we got from Nishiki marker 錦市場 in Kyoto 京都 sometime ago.

We both get filled up quickly so I try to serve small portions. In small bowls from left to right are cold tofu or hiyayakko 冷や奴, grated "Tororo" nagaimo とろろ with "ikura" salmon roe and "Chinese -style" squid salad 中華風イカサラダ

On the black rectangular plate are boiled octopus leg thinly sliced with sumiso sauce タコの酢味噌, my usual dashi-maki Japanese omelet with aonori sea weed 青海苔だし巻き玉子, store bought small fish cake re-heated in the toaster oven.

The gyoza 餃子 I made a few days ago heated up in the toaster oven (skin becomes really crispy) cut in half with a small amount of Ponzu sauce ポン酢 poured into them. This replaces the separate dipping sauce and makes it a bit easier to eat the gyoza.

This store-bought boiled squid salad with Chinese flavors.

This is grated nagaimo (which is called "Tororo"とろろ). I dissolved wasabi into soy sauce and mixed into tororo and topped it with ikura and chiffonade of perilla.

 This is cold silken tofu. I added blanched edible chrysanthemum 春菊. Instead of straight soy sauce I dressed it with concentrated noddle sauce and topped it with bonito flakes かつお節.

We had these small dishes with our house cold sake "tengumai" daiginjo 天狗舞大吟醸. Nothing really new here but very enjoyable.

Natto, squid sashimi and cold tofu イカ納豆と冷や奴

This was inspired by a post in an Izakaya blog I follow. The blogger Mr. Hamada 浜田さん is rather well-known Izakaya  aficionado in Japan. He frequents "tachi-nomi (Standing-up)" 立ち飲み izakaya called "Yakiya" やきや in Ogikubo 荻窪 in Tokyo.  On one such visit, he had this dish which was a combination of natto, squid sashimi and cold tofu いか納豆と冷奴 and his write-up  piqued my interest.

I bought both natto and squid sashimi frozen at our Japanese grocery store. I garnished the Squid-natto with chopped scallions and perilla from our herb garden. The cold tofu is from "otokomae tofu". It is comes in a package of three connected small squares filled with silken tofu called "san-ren-chan" 三連チャン. For this dish, I cut one of the tofu squares half and topped it with chopped scallion and bonito flakes.

I premixed the natto (one package divided among us) using my natto stirrer with the sauce that came with the natto and a bit of wasabi. I placed the squid sashimi next to it (below). I premix the natto to make it more palatable for my wife.  (A thorough mix will add air thus reducing the ripe...very ripe cheesy smell).

I then garnished it with chopped scallion and perilla (from our herb garden).

Instead of straight soy sauce, I added concentrated noodle sauce and mixed the squid-natto well. We ate the squid-natto as is but based on the advice of Mr. Hamada in his blog we mixed the natto with the cold tofu. He was right this is a good combination. My wife pointed out that the combination of round natto beans and long strips of squid made it difficult to eat with a spoon or chop sticks. (The spoon worked for the natto but not the squid while the chop sticks got the squid but made eating the beans very difficult. She suggested cutting the squid into shorter strips so that it is closer in size to the beans making it easier to eat with a spoon. According to Mr. Hamada, at Yakiya, they use a specific part of fresh squid to make their squid-natto. What I made probably is not quite up to that standard but, for us, it was still pretty good with our new house sake "tengu-mai" daiginjou 天狗舞大吟醸.

Five appetizers on a five compartment plate 新しいお皿とお通し５種

Some izakayas are known for giving multiple "otoshi" お通し appetizers to guests at the start of a meal.  For example we had six ostoshi at "Suiko" 酔香 and "Shuhai" 酒杯. We really love these types of dishes and often make similar ones at home. But sometimes multiple small bowls and dishes are a bit of work to arrange and clean. When I was browsing the "Korin" website recently, I found a long rectangular dish with five small square indentations and thought it would be a perfect way to circumvent the multiple-small-dish-cleanup issue. So, this is my first attempt at serving 5 small appetizers on this new plate. None of appetizers; only the dishes are new.

Shown below from left to right; #1 miso marinated cream cheese クリームチーズの味噌ずけ, and #2 "Jako" hatchling fish arima-ni ジャコの有馬煮. #1 was almost 10 days old and the flavor really got better over time as the cheese absorbed the salty nuttiness of the miso. I served this on thinly sliced mini-cucumber. #2 is the last of the leftovers from the Sushitaro osechi box (I heated it up in sake and soy sauce to make it last). This time since I was heating up other items in the toaster oven, I decide to include this. The result was a bit surprising and very good. The surface of the little fish got really crispy (nearly burnt) and they became nice crunchy bits.

Shown below #3 is chicken patty with dried fig and gorgonzola cheese いちじくとブルーチーズの松風焼きwhich was topped with figgy cranberry sauceいちじくクランベリーソース. #4 is braised spicy tofu ピリ辛豆腐 with blanched sugar snap.

Below, #5 is blanched broccoli dressed in sesame dressing ブロッコリーの胡麻よごし. It was an attempt to add vegetables for a "nutritionally balanced" appetizer.

Since I cook multiple dishes over the weekend, keeping them in the fridge then heating them up in the toaster over when we are ready to eat I could easily have added a few more items. Maybe, I should aim for the type of "Hassun*" 八寸 appetizers we got at "Kappa" 小料理屋河童  in  San Francisco which had 15 small appetizer dishes on one square plate.

* "Su-n" is a traditional  Japanese measurement (one "su-n" 一寸 is about 3cm, so eight "su-n" or "Hassun" is about 24cm). The idea here is to serve several small seasonal dishes on a "hassun" or "eight su-n" square cedar tray (or plate) which is usually the second course of a traditional "Kaiseki" 会席 or 懐石 course dinner.

Onion, shirataki, and pork pouch 豚肉と白滝の巾着

This is a variation of a dish called "Kin-chaku" 巾着, which is the name for a Japanese-style pouch with a string tie. When this word is used for a dish, it is referring to a deep fried tofu pouch stuffed with different items. One popular variation is mochi-kin 餅巾着 which I posted many years ago as a part of "oden" おでん  Japanese winter stew in which "mochi" rice cake was stuffed in a fried tofu pouch and simmered in seasoned broth. This time, I stuffed fried tofu pouch with seasoned onion, ground pork, and shira-taki noodles 白滝. I am not sure where I learned this variation. I imagine I got it from either an oden place I used to frequent in Sapporo or from my mother. The pouch could be stuffed with other items. Your imagination is the limit. I served this as part of an abbreviated oden dinner that included a boiled egg, fish cake with burdock root or "gobo-ten" ゴボウ天 and carrot.

I cut the egg and the pouch to show the inside. This combination is quite good and it is rather filling although not as much as the ones stuffed with "mochi" rice cake.

Ingredients:
1. Deep fried tofu, 5 full-size cut into half making 10 pouches (use as is but just cutting open one end if using the half size "Inari-age" 稲荷揚げ ) (#1). If frozen, thaw and pouring hot water over it in a colander which removes excess oil.
2. Ground pork (I used hand cut trimming from pork filets), the amount is totally arbitrary (#2).
3. Shirataki-noodle, 白滝, 1 package rinsed, parboiled, rinsed again and drained (it has a peculiar smell) (#3)
4. Onion, 1 medium, cut in half and sliced (#4).
5. Oil (vegetable oil with splash of dark sesame oil) for cooking (#5 and 6).
6. Soy sauce and mirin for seasoning, one tbs each (#7).

Directions:
1. Sauté the onion in vegetable oil, and add the shirataki-noodle (#5) and the pork (#6) for several minutes until the onion softens and the pork turns color.
2. Add the soy sauce and mirin (1 tbs each) (#7) and braise until most of the liquid evaporates.
3. When it cools, stuff the pouches and close it with tooth picks (or tie it with kanpkyo 干瓢).
4. Add the stuffed pouch in oden broth with other items and simmer.

This is a quite filling dish and certainly add to the variation in the oden items.

Cold mackerel ball soup 冷製鯖のつみれ汁

We got a whole Spanish mackerel from the near-by Whole Foods and made our usual miso simmered mackerel 鯖の味噌煮. I also made mackerel fish ball soup 鯖のつみれ汁 from the meat scraped off the bone and tail tip portion of the fish. I just cooked the mackerel fish balls in dashi broth but did not season or finish the soup and placed it in the refrigerator. The next day, it was very hot and humid and my wife suggested we have this soup cold. Following her suggestion, I made this cold soup with mackerel balls, silken tofu and udon noodle as a light lunch.

I just seasoned the broth with concentrated noodle sauce from a bottle and garnished with sliced scallion and yuzu zest (frozen).

Ingredients: (this made 7 meat balls).

Scraped meat from one whole Spanish mackerel (scraped off the bone and also the thin tip of the tail portion)

Scallion, half stalk, finely chopped

Miso and potato starch 1 tbs each

Sake 1 tsp

Roasted sesame oil 1/2 tsp

Ginger root, finely chopped 1/2 tsp

Salt, scant pinch

Japanese broth, 300ml (I made this from a dashi pack with bonito and kelp).

Concentrated noodle sauce from the bottle to taste
Silken tofu and udon noodles (both cold, amount arbitrary)

For garnish

Scallion, 1/2, thinly sliced on bias
Yuzu zest

Directions:

Mince and mix the Spanish mackerel meat, scallion, miso, potato starch, sake, sesame oil, ginger root and salt.
Meanwhile heat-up the Japanese dashi broth and keep it simmering
Using two teaspoons, make a quenelle and drop it into the simmering broth
Cook it gently until all the fish balls float (4-5 minutes)
Let it cool to room temperature and place it in the refrigerator overnight.
In a small bowl, add the broth seasoned with the concentrated noodle sauce, add the fish balls, tofu and udon and garnish.

We liked the warm version but this cold one is also very good especially on a hot and humid summer day in August in Washington.

Tofu cutlet with scallion sauce 豆腐のカツレツねぎソースのせ

This was inspired by the "Perfect Pairings" book. The original recipe is a tofu cutlet with scallion sauce. I happened to have several thick rectangles of marinated tofu that I would use to make spicy marinated tofu which I usually cook in a pan frying. Since I had heated up some oil and had breading ingredients all ready to deep fry egg whites for my wife's deviled eggs, I decided to bread and deep fry the marinated tofu too. Since the tofu was on the thick side, I cut it in half  before  serving.

The sauce in the recipe appears to be a variation of a Japanese scallion "negi" sauce ねぎソース with  chopped scallion, vinegar and olive oil. I reduced the amount of oil and added light colored soy sauce to make it closer to the "negi" sauce.

Ingredients:
One block of firm tofu, cut in half horizontally, and cut into equal sized rectangles.
Oil for deep frying

Marinade (optional):
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs mirin
1tsp rice vinegar
1tsp dark sesame oil
1tsp (or more) Suriracha hot sauce
1/4tsp grated ginger root

Breading:
AP flour for dredging
1 egg and water for egg water
Panko

Sauce:
2 finely chopped scallion, white and green parts
2tbs rice vinegar
2tbs light olive oil
1tsp light colored soy sauce

Directions:
For the American tofu I used, I boiled it in water for a few minutes with a dash of sake to remove the "smell". I drained it and let it cool to room temperature (for better quality firm tofu, this process can be skipped).
I placeed the marinade in a Ziploc bag and added the tofu. I removed as much air as possible, sealed the bad and let the tofu marinate in the refrigerator overnight or for a few days (optional).
I removed the tofu from the marinade and dredged it in flour, then the egg water and roll it in panko to coat.
I deep fried it in 350 F oil turning once. When all sides developed a crust, I lowered the oil temperature to 250 F and fried it for 5-7 minutes.
Then I raised the temperature to 350 F again and cooked for 1-2  minutes more.

When done, I drained the oil. When it was cool enough to handle, I cut the tofu in half horizontally.

I arranged the tofu alternating the cut surface and crust (the first picture).
I added a line of the "negi" sauce.

Although we did not taste much of the marinade (my usual, pan fried and then simmered in the marinade makes the taste much stronger and spicier), the combination of crunchy crust and soft center and the "negi"sauce go very well. The cookbook suggested paring with Pino Grigio.  I do not remember what we had for wine.