Boiled Tofu Hot Pot
[湯豆腐]
A staple of the Kyoto shojin ryori, the buddhist cuisine.
Fresh tofu cubes simmered in a kombu dashi, to be enjoyed with ponzu, scallions, grated ginger and pepper... Eating yudofu is a zen experience.
Kombu dashi without any seasonings is literally a pool of umami, so all ingredients cooked in it and even the water used for the broth have their flavor enhanced, putting all the freshness to test. I guess no other recipe has more emphasis on the freshness of the ingredients than yudofu.
Tofu decays quickly with time, so using the best tofu available in your hands is highly recommended. Using fresh water of quality without any taste is also fundamental for this execution. As a personal experience, while I was testing kombu dashi extraction, I discovered all the unpleasant flavors from my apartment's tap water, greatly amplified by the umami power...
If you have the chance to visit Kyoto, I do recommend trying their local yudofu. Some temples have restaurants inside their domains, where artisanal tofu is being made in a daily basis. That experience will definitely help you understand why this dish is so highly regarded.
This recipe is very simple to prepare, so dedicate some of its time to find a great tofu, good quality water and the most fresh vegetables available in the season.
I made a full course shojin style meal, opening with sesame tofu with miso sauce:
Two types, white and black sesame seeds. Sesame tofu tastes nutty like a peanut butter and it has a quite pleasant texture.
The next item is a ganmodoki, which is a fried tofu fritter made from scraps of tofu and vegetables. Light and fluffy inside. I used a sesame dressing with sesame seeds.
The main course, silky tofu gently boiled in kombu dashi, served with ponzu, ginger, scallions and other dressings. You can feel how the fresh tofu becomes, so savory from the dashi immersion!...
Recipe
500ml of dashi (kombu)
200g of fresh silky tofu (momen), cut in large cubes
50g of mitsuba leaves
Seasonings
Ponzu sauce
Grated ginger
Chopped scallions
Hanakatsuo (finely shavings of katsuobushi)
Togarashi
Steps
Prepare the dashi using fresh water and kombu.
Put the nabe pot with dashi in low heat (below boiling point).
Add the tofu. Leave it to simmer for around 10 minutes.
Add the mitsuba leaves and serve the dish.
Eat with the seasonings.
Tips
Must emphasize one last time how important it is to choose carefully the ingredients, paying extra attention to the water and the tofu.
Do not let the dashi boil, otherwise the bubbles may break the tofu.
This dish goes well with warm sake.
Serve this dish as main course with other mild flavored dishes. The flavor of yudoufu is very subtle, meaning that strong flavors may affect the experience.
