← Nouns Cooking · Japanese

Ingredients

• 1 piece kombu (about 10 x 10 cm)
• 600 ml Water
• 400 g silken or medium-firm tofu, cut into 6 large cubes
• 1 handful mitsuba, spinach or napa cabbage leaves (optional)
• 4 tbsp Soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Sake
• 1 tsp Mirin
• 2 Spring onion, finely sliced
• 1 tsp Ginger, finely grated
• 1 pinch Shichimi togarashi (seven-spice) (optional)

Method

1. Put the kombu and water in a clay pot or saucepan and leave to soak for 30 min.
2. Simmer the soy sauce, sake and mirin in a tiny pan for 1 minute to cook off the alcohol, then pour into a small cup.
3. Set the pot over low heat and slide in the tofu. Warm it very gently for 8–10 min, never letting the water boil, until the tofu is hot right through and starts to sway. Add the greens for the last minute.
4. Stand the cup of sauce in the middle of the pot to keep it warm, if it fits, and bring everything to the table.
5. Scoop out the tofu with a slotted spoon, dip it in the sauce and top with spring onion, ginger and shichimi.

Tips

• Boiling makes tofu spongy and full of holes, so keep it at a bare shiver.
• Ponzu makes a lovely second dip. Add bonito flakes to the sauce if you are not cooking vegetarian.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Just One Cookbook RecipeTin Japan Japanese Cooking 101