Fried Tofu with Thick Mushroom Sauce (Mushroom Ankake)

Fried Tofu with Thick Mushroom Sauce is made of just vegetables, but it is surprisingly filling and satisfying. The flavour of the Asian mushrooms in the thickened sauce makes the plain deep-fried tofu so tasty. It is also a great vegetarian dish when you use a vegetarian dashi stock.

I introduced the name ‘ankake’ in my post Ocean Perch in Thickend Vegetable Saue. The flavoured sauce thickened with starch is generically called ‘ankake’. So, I call today’s sauce ‘Mushroom Ankake’.

Although deep-fried, the tofu is not as high in calories as you think.

As you can see in my post, Home-made Atsuage (Deep-fried Tofu), the Japanese version of deep-fried tofu comes in a large block (about the same size as a standard pack of tofu and about half the thickness of a tofu block). The inside of Atsuage retains the texture of tofu. This type of deep-fried tofu has the least calories.

On the other hand, the Chinese version of deep-fried tofu usually comes in smaller cubes as shown in the photos below. The large piece is 4cm x 5cm x 5cm/3⁄16″ x 2″ x 2″ , the small pieces are 3.5cm x 3.5cm x 4cm/1⅜” x 1⅜” x 3⁄16″.

Left: Atsuage, Middle: Large Chinese deep-fried tofu, Right: Small Chinese deep-fried tofu.

The Chinese deep-fried tofu is much oilier than the Japanese atsuage, and the tofu inside the brown skin has quite a different texture from the tofu because of the air bubbles.

Left: Atsuage, Right: Large Chinese deep-fried tofu (left) and small Chinese deep-fried tofu (right).

Smaller versions of deep-fried tofu are called tofu puffs, which have many more air bubbles inside the tofu, giving it a spongy texture.

The calorie counts depend on the size of the fried tofu pieces. The smaller pieces of deep-fried tofu are higher in calories than the larger pieces because they have more deep-fried surface areas. Atsuage has far less calories than Chinese deep-fried tofu.

I used the large pieces of Chinese deep-fried tofu, but you can of course use atsuage (home-made or store bought).

What’s in My Fried Tofu with Thick Mushroom Sauce (Mushroom Ankake)

• Deep-fried tofu, halved or quartered
• Asian mushrooms, cut into 4-5cm/3⁄16-2″ long pieces
• Carrot, cut into 4-5cm/3⁄16-2″ long batons
• Sesame oil

I used the Chinese version of deep-fried tofu, which came in large cubes, but it is best to use a Japanese-style deep-fried tofu called atsuage if you can get it. You could use tofu puffs as an alternative, but the dish becomes oilier and the texture of the tofu is quite different.

The mushrooms can be any combination of Asian mushrooms. I bought a pack of mixed mushrooms, which included shiitake, king oyster, enoki, and white pearl mushrooms.

Thick Sauce

• Dashi stock
• Cooking sake
• Mirin
• Sugar
• Soy sauce
• Corn flour/cornstarch diluted in water

If you use vegetarian dashi stock, it becomes a vegetarian dish.

How to Make Fried Tofu with Thick Mushroom Sauce (Mushroom Ankake)

You only need one frying pan today – cook and heat up the deep-fried tofu first, then make a mushroom sauce after transferring the tofu to a plate.

1. Brown all sides of the deep-fried tofu pieces in a frying pan with sesame oil.
2. Transfer the tofu to a serving plate.
3. Sauté all the vegetables using the same frying pan until the vegetables are wilted.
4. Add all the sauce ingredients, excluding corn flour/cornstarch, and bring it to a boil.
5. Add corn flour/cornstarch to the pan and mix well. When the sauce thickens and starts boiling, turn the heat off and pour the mushroom sauce over the tofu.

The best part of Fried Tofu with Thick Mushroom Sauce (Mushroom Ankake) is the combination of crunchiness and tasty smooth sauce full of mushroom flavour. If you can, use atsuage because it has less calories than the Chinese version of deep-fried tofu with more protein.

Yumiko

4.5 from 2 votes

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Fried Tofu with Thick Mushroom Sauce (Mushroom Ankake)

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

Total Time

15 mins

 

Fried Tofu with Thick Mushroom Sauce is made of just vegetables, but it is surprisingly filling and satisfying. The flavour of the Asian mushrooms in the thickened sauce makes the plain deep-fried tofu so tasty. It is also a great vegetarian dish when you use a vegetarian dashi stock.

Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.

Recipe Type: Main

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: Asian mushroom recipe, fried tofu, fried tofu recipes, sauteed mushroom recipes, vegan recipe, vegetarian

Serves: 2

Author: Yumiko

Ingredients (tbsp=15ml, cup=250ml)

• 300-330g/0.7lb deep-fried tofu (note 1)
• 200g/7oz Asian mushrooms (note 2)
• 20g/0.7oz carrot cut into 3mm/⅛" wide, 4-5cm/3⁄16-2" long batons
• 1 tbsp sesame oil

Thick Sauce

• 200ml/6.8fl oz dashi stock (or 200ml /6.8fl ozwater + ⅓ tsp dashi powder, note 3)
• 1 tbsp cooking sake
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1⅓ tbsp soy sauce
• ½ tbsp corn flour diluted in 2 tsp water

Instructions

1. Cut deep-fried tofu into bite-size cubes/cuboids (note 3).

Prepare Mushrooms

1. Shiitake – remove the stem and slice thinly into 2mm/3⁄32" thick pieces.

2. King oyster – cut in half (or into 3) horizontally to about 4-5cm/3⁄16-2" long, then halve each piece lengthwise. Slice each piece lengthwise into 2mm/3⁄32" thick pieces.

3. Enoki - remove the clustering part at the bottom to separate each stem. Halve the length of the stem.

4. White pearl – shred each mushroom with your hands into thin strips.

Cook Deep-fried Tofu

1. Heat sesame oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
2. Place the tofu pieces in the frying pan, facing the cut side (tofu side, not the fried side) down.

3. Cook the tofu for 4-5 minutes, during which turn the pieces 90 degrees so that the other cut side faces down.

4. Continue to cook for a couple more minutes, turning the pieces over so that all the sides are lightly browned. Transfer tofu to a serving plate.

Make Mushroom Ankake and Serve

1. Add vegetables to the pan and sauté for 3 minutes or so until the mushrooms start wilting.

2. Add all the Sauce ingredients, excluding corn flour/cornstarch, to the pan and bring it to a boil.

3. Reduce heat to low and add the corn flour/cornstarch in a swirling motion and mix quickly. The sauce starts bubbling and thickens (note 4).

4. Pour the vegetable sauce over the deep-fried tofu and serve while the sauce is hot.

Recipe Notes

1. There are different kinds of deep-fried tofu that you can buy, and the size of tofu also varies. The shape of my deep-fried tofu was 4cm x 5cm x 5cm/3⁄16" x 2" x 2" cuboid, and I needed 6 of them. You might find larger deep-fried tofu, like my Home-made Atsuage (Deep-fried Tofu). You can use either of them.

Deep-fried tofu is different from tofu puffs. Unlike the deep-fried tofu, the tofu inside the tofu puffs is not dense and mostly air bubbles. Although you could make today’s dish with tofu puffs, it will lack the tofu texture.

In general, a larger size of deep-fried tofu contains less calories.

2. You can use any combination of Asian mushrooms. I used shiitake, king oyster, enoki, and white pearl mushrooms.

3. My deep-fried tofu blocks needed to be quartered. If you are using smaller blocks of Chinese deep-fried tofu, you only need to halve each block. In the case of atsuage, halve it lengthwise, then cut the halved blocks into 1.5-2cm/⅝-¾" wide pieces perpendicular to the first cut.

4. The thickness of the sauce can vary slightly depending on the quantity of liquid left in the pan, which is impacted by the size of the pan and the strength of the heat.

It is a good practice not to add all of the corn flour/cornstarch at once. Add it gradually and check the thickness of the sauce. You may need less than the specified quantity. If the sauce is still watery after adding all of it, add more corn flour/cornstarch diluted in water to the pan.

5. Nutrition per serving. If you use atsuage, the calories will be lower.

serving: 241g calories: 527kcal fat: 38g (57%) saturated fat: 3.8g (19%) trans fat: 0g polyunsaturated fat: 2.6g monounsaturated fat: 10g cholesterol: 76mg (25%) sodium: 788mg (33%) carbohydrates: 8.9g (3%) dietary fibre: 4.6g (18%) sugar: 0.1g protein: 36.4g vitamin a: 0mcg (0%) calcium: 35mg (3%) iron: 0.3mg (2%) potassium: 104mg (3%)