🥗 STARTER
Agedashi Tofu (Fried Tofu in Dashi Broth)
Soft tofu dusted in potato starch and fried until just crisp, then set in a pool of warm dashi, soy and mirin broth with grated daikon, ginger and spring onion.
Japanese · medium · serves 2
prep 20 min · cook 12 min
~532 cal · 26g protein · 65g carbs · 22g fat · 16g fiber · 26g sugars · 3g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Agedashi dofu is an old dish. It appears in Tofu Hyakuchin, "One Hundred Tofu", a Japanese tofu cookbook published in 1782, alongside hiyayakko (chilled tofu) and yudofu (simmered tofu), and it is still one of the standard small plates on izakaya menus, ordered at the start of an evening with a drink.
The name says what it is: age means fried and dashi is the broth. Blocks of tofu are drained, rolled in potato starch (katakuriko) and fried briefly, so the outside sets into a thin, delicate crust while the inside stays soft and custardy.
The tofu goes into the bowl hot and the broth goes in around it, a light tentsuyu of dashi, soy sauce and mirin. As it sits, the crust softens at the base and turns silky, while the top stays crisp. A little mound of grated daikon and ginger, sliced spring onion and a few bonito flakes finish it. It is eaten straight away, while both textures last.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 2
- 1 block (about 400 g) medium-firm tofu
- 1 cup (240 ml) dashi
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 4 tbsp potato starch (katakuriko)Hard to find? 4 tbsp cornstarch - the crust is a little harder and less delicate
- 2 cups (500 ml) , for deep-frying
- 5 cm piece daikon radish, peeled
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated
- 2 spring onions, thinly sliced
- 1 small handful bonito flakes (katsuobushi), to garnish
- a pinch shichimi togarashi, to serve, optional
Instructions
- 1Wrap the tofu in paper towels, set it on a plate, put a second plate on top and leave it for 15 minutes to press out some of the water.✎ Chef’s noteDrained tofu spits less in the oil and takes a thinner, crisper coat of starch.
- 2Meanwhile make the broth: bring the dashi, soy sauce and mirin to a simmer in a small pan, then take it off the heat and keep it warm. Grate the daikon, squeeze it lightly to drain, and slice the spring onions.
- 3Heat the oil in a small, deep pan to 160 to 170C (320 to 340F). Cut the tofu into 6 even cubes and pat them dry.
- 4Roll each cube in the potato starch to coat it on all sides, shaking off the excess, and fry three at a time for about 2 to 3 minutes, turning once, until the crust is crisp and a pale golden colour. Drain on a rack.✎ Chef’s noteCoat each piece just before it goes in. Starch left to sit on wet tofu turns gummy.
- 5Set the tofu in shallow bowls and pour the warm broth around it, not over it, so the tops stay crisp. Top with the grated daikon, ginger, spring onion and bonito flakes, add shichimi if you like, and serve at once.
Japanese izakaya and home tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Tokyo (Kanto). Oyakodon, the parent and child bowl of chicken and egg over rice, is credited to Toku, wife of the fifth-generation owner of Tamahide in Nihonbashi, in 1891. The name is a joke about the ingredients that everyone in Japan gets immediately and almost nobody outside it does.
🗺️
Japan. Dashi does the quiet work in a Japanese kitchen. Kelp carries one savoury compound and dried, smoked skipjack carries another, and combining the two multiplies the effect well beyond either alone. The taste was named umami in 1908 by Ikeda Kikunae of Tokyo Imperial University, who went looking for it after eating tofu simmered with kelp.
🌍
Asia. A grain line runs across the continent. Rice dominates the wet south and east, wheat the drier north and west, and the tools follow it: the wok and the steamer where rice is milled, the tandoor and the griddle where wheat is ground. Tea travels the other way, drunk green, black, salted, buttered or with milk depending how far it got from China.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Japan
Osaka-Style OkonomiyakiA crisp-edged cabbage pancake griddled with pork belly, painted with sweet-savory sauce and mayo.
Goya ChampuruOkinawa’s signature stir-fry of bitter melon, firm tofu, pork, and egg, humble food from the island of long life.
Sapporo Miso RamenSnow-country ramen: a rich miso broth with wok-seared vegetables, springy noodles, and butter melting on top.
Browse all Japan recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Fried food is best eaten fresh while crisp. Re-crisp leftovers in a hot oven or air fryer; the microwave makes them soft.
Make it a Japan meal
AmazakeDrink
DorayakiDessert
Similar dishes from around the world
Moreia Frita (Cape Verdean Fried Moray Eel)Cape Verde
Balchi di Piska (Curaçao Fish Balls)Curaçao
Sambaza (Rwandan Fried Lake Kivu Fish)Rwanda
Kueh Pie Tee (Crispy Nyonya Top Hats)Singapore
Tomate Crevettes (Belgian Tomatoes Stuffed with Grey Shrimp)Belgium
Silkė su Grybais (Lithuanian Herring with Mushrooms)Lithuania
Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Agedashi Tofu (Fried Tofu in Dashi Broth)?
Soft tofu dusted in potato starch and fried until just crisp, then set in a pool of warm dashi, soy and mirin broth with grated daikon, ginger and spring onion.
Where does Agedashi Tofu (Fried Tofu in Dashi Broth) come from?
Agedashi Tofu (Fried Tofu in Dashi Broth) is a Japanese dish from Tokyo (Kanto), Japan.
Can Agedashi Tofu (Fried Tofu in Dashi Broth) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Agedashi Tofu (Fried Tofu in Dashi Broth) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Agedashi Tofu (Fried Tofu in Dashi Broth) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Agedashi Tofu (Fried Tofu in Dashi Broth) take to make?
About 32 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 12 minutes cooking), serving 2.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.