みそ田楽 miso dengaku

At first I called these miso yaki tofu, but a Japanese photographer, nasufumitaka on flickr also said they were known as miso dengaku. Further research shows they are also called tofu dengaku. Call them whatever you want :) But I don't have a griller, and I didn't want to bake the tofu so this is a less authentic miso dengaku. Nevertheless I think it tastes quite good!

For this recipe, I did not have a recipe I could refer too, but I had tried nasu dengaku (eggplant with sweet miso) earlier in the year in my uncle and aunt's restaurant so I had a good idea of what I wanted it to taste like and how it would look when finished.

Had a test run for the recipe on the Monday when the guys were over and ended up burning quite a few because of the level heat. Don't worry I did try it again with the remaining tofu and changed the method so your one shouldn't burn. Like Thangstahh said, tofu is tasteless (but I still love tofu's plain taste :D) and really depends on the sauce and toppings so you can add more toppings if you want :)

Notebook drawings inspired by awesome photographer and artist ^^ Christine check out her flickr page too!

If you can read and understand the scribbles in my notebook, I did make small adjustments to it.

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みそ田楽 miso dengaku

ingredients: serves 2 - 4

500 g firm tofu
2 Tb shiro (white) miso1 2/3 Tb konbu dashi / chicken stock / water
5 tsp sugar (adjust to your own taste)
1 Tb mirinkatsuobushi (shaved bonito), optional
nori strips (cut dried seaweed), optional
sliced spring onion, optional
toasted white sesame seeds, optional

method:
Drain out the water in the tofu and cut into 12 equal sized pieces.

Put the tofu pieces in boiling water and boil for 5 minutes. Drain water and place tofu on kitchen paper to soak up excess water.

Put the shiro miso, konbu dashi / chicken stock, sugar and mirin in a small saucepan. Cook in a medium - low heat until sauce is smooth. Transfer sauce to a small bowl. (You might want to add more sugar if you want your tofu sweeter.)

Heat a non-stick frying pan add the drained tofu pieces and lightly brown them on high heat.

Change heat to medium - low. Using a pastry brush, brush some miso sauce on top of the tofu and flip them. It is important to use a medium - low heat as the sugar content in the sauce will burn easily if you use high heat.
Repeat step 5 until there is no more miso sauce.

Transfer tofu to a plate and sprinkle a combination of katsuobushi, nori strips, sliced spring onion and toasted white sesame seeds.