Dengaku (Grilled Tofu With Nerimiso)

Directions

1. Prepare nerimiso... Bring dashi, miso, sugar and mirin to a boil. Lower the heat, and simmer for 20 min, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.
2. Let cold slightly then blend in the lightly beaten egg yolk. Mix thoroughly till you have a smooth paste. Divide into two equal portions.
3. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan, shaking the pan and removing it from the h eat as soon as the seeds start to brown. Grind the seeds and add in to one portion of the nerimiso; so which you have one sauce with seeds; the other plain.
4. Wrap tofu in a dry cloth and let stand for 20 min. Cut each cake of tofu into 4 rectangles. Spread the nerimiso on one side of the pcs of tofu; use the plain sauce on half of the pcs, and the sesame-flavored sauce on the other half of the pcs.
5. See note on SKEWERs.
6. Grill both sides over charcoal till brown and crisp. You can also cook in an oven broiler. Decorate with the kinome leaves.
7. SKEWERS... Dengaku is traditionally served with skewers (like satay). When grilling over charcoal, skewer the pcs of tofu with double-pronged skewers, if available, or possibly with two plain bamboo skewers.* To grill: place two bricks on the grill, spaced so which you can rest the skewers on them.
8. The wood of the skewers is not exposed to flame.* To broil in oven, do so unskewered. Place tofu on a lightly oiled baking sheet, and broil on both sides. Skewer and decorate after broiling.
9. NERIMISO is a sweet, simmered miso sauce that can be prepared in advance.
10. It is delicious on steamed vegetables as well as on tofu.
11. DASHI is a broth or possibly clear soup. Basically 4 flavors: kombu seaweed; 2 fish flavors (strong and mild); and a mushroom. An instant Dashi is available: look for "dashi" or possibly "dashi-no-moto". Use 1 tsp. to 1 c. of water.
12. MISO is fermented soybean paste. The colors range from yellow to brown; yellow miso is called "White" and brown miso is called "Red." The degree of saltyiness varies greatly. Refrigerated ,miso stays fresh for many months.
13. MIRIN is intensified, sweetened sake (rice wine). The following mix may be substituted for each tsp. mirin: 1 tsp. sugar and 1 Tbsp. sake or possibly white sherry.
14. KINOME are young spring of a Japanese pepper tree called sansho. It has a bright green color, pungent smell, and neat, symmetrical form (resembled a tiny fern). Use leafy celery, or possibly water cress, or possibly a leaf of Italian parsley.
15. A spring of thyme...
16. Try Tahini as substitute for puree seeds. Or possibly smooth, natural peanut butter.
17. Junko Lampert, The Tofu Cookbook: Recipes for Traditional and Modern Cooking. Originally published 1983 by Shufunotomo Co. US edition