Ganmodoki - Japanese Tofu Balls

Saw this tofu recipe in  The Japanese Kitchen cookbook by Kimiko Barber which I acquired during the last BBWS.  An interesting book with lots of information on Japanese cooking.  I made a few alteration where the ingredients are concerned and came up with one that is delicious....nom nom crisps on the outside and soft and savory on the inside. Tofu is recognised as being healthy but it tends to put people off especially the men because of it softness :p  But with this recipe, it will change the mind set of the men. Ganmodoki can be served as a delicious healthy canape or starter.

It would have been 100 percent japanese if I had added in the konbu and mushrooms. I substituted these two ingredients with home planted spring onions and sweet jalapeno ...gosh they was one awesome tofu balls or ganmodoki.   You can make a dipping sauce with just soy sauce, rice vinegar and grated ginger but since WB and myself prefer spicy dips, we omitted the real dipping sauce for ganmodoki and replace the sauce with chilli sauce :)  I served them before having our usual dinner LOL! reason being it smell so good that we just wanna eat them before our dinner.   We prefer to eat it while it is still warm though ganmodoki can be served hot or cold.  WB is one of those men who doesnt fancy tofu much but with this recipe, WB certainly change his mind set about tofu after having tasted such wonderful tofu balls LOL! 

crispy  on the outside and soft and savory on the inside...lovely ganmodoki

those spring onions were from my garden

I planted them on pots ...now I can have supply of organic

spring onions anytime I want :) enough for everyday cooking

I prefer to mesh the tofu coarsely so

that we get to feel the bits and pieces of tofu

as you can see in the pic above :)

Ganmodoki- Japanese Tofu Balls - adapted from The Japanese Kitchen

Ingredients:

1 block cotton tofu ( firm variety )

1 piece konbu * I replaced with spring onions

2 dried shiitake mushroom -softened and chopped - * I replaced with sweet Jalapeno

2 oz carrot, peeled and finely chopped *  I omitted this

1 tbsp grated ginger

1 egg white beaten to soft peaks

1 tbsp light soy sauce * I omitted this

1 tsp of mirin

1/2 tsp sea salt

* for crispness , I added 2 tbsp of rice flour to the tofu mixture

vegetable oil for deep frying

Dipping sauce:

4 tbsp of soy sauce

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp grated ginger

Method:

Put the block of tofu on a chopping board, place another small chopping board or plate on top and put a little weight on top of it and tilt it at an angle to drain off the water from the tofu. Leave it for at least 45 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, mesh the compressed tofu corasely, add in all the chopped ingredients and seasonings. For my version, I add in the rice flour last.  Using two tablespoons, shape them into balls and put them into hot oil and deep fried them in batches.  Take out when they are golden brown.  Place them on paper towels to absorb all the excess oil from the tofu.  Serve them hot or cold with the dipping sauce.

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