Kinome flavor on ankake agedofu (wood fragrant glazed fried tofu)

Tofu is the uttermost delight ! No, I am not crazy. i have not lost my tastebuds.
I know it has bad reputation. Well I have tried to eat those blocks of rubber that are called tofu in the West (ello, Old Europe) and in the East (East of here, that’s you, America) and I didn’t like that.
We have great tofu in Japan. It can be eaten like that bare feet in front of the fridge at night… And if you add a great recipe, it’s the paradise of flavor.

Freshly fried tofu, topped with hot ankake sauce full of veggies, flavored with kinome leaves… Eat without waiting. You can’t reheat that, it would lose crispiness and freshness of fragrances.

basic recipe of fried tofu

ankake is a sauce thickened with starch. I used katakuriko (potato starch), oyster sauce, salt, chili pepper, fresh ginger, garlic, shimeji mushrooms, young onion, sweet peppers…
Final touches : spicy fragrant sesame oil, cubes of lemon and :

Kinome. The taste of those leaves is very powerful and just a few transform the whole dish.
Sansho, la saveur boisee de la cuisine japonaise. (The wood flavor in Japanese cuisine.)

Pour the sauce delicately and place veggies for the photo.
Or go crazy : pour the sauce pan of sauce onto the place.