Inarizushi

The aburaage skins should have nice big air pockets inside - if not, before you de-oil, roll chopsticks over them to loosen them up and make them easier to fill. De-oil the skins by placing them in boiling water for a few minutes - wipe with paper towels to further de-oil. Yes. Do this. Seriously.

To prepare the aburaage:

• Cut 6 de-oiled aburaage in half to form 12 "bags"
• 1-1/3 C dashi
• 3 - 4 T sugar (to taste)
• 2 T sake
• 2 T mirin
• 3 - 4 T dark soy sauce (depending on how salty you want them)

Bring all ingredients except aburaage to a boil in a pan, lower heat to a simmer and add the aburaage. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until the liquid had reduced by about half. Turn off the heat and let the skins cool in the liquid. They can be stored in the liquid for 2-3 days in the fridge. To use, squeeze out enough liquid so they are not drippy and fill with 1/3 - 1/2 C of sushi rice.

Abura-Age for Kitsune Udon

Pictures! I remembered to take pictures!!! These were taken on 12/28/10 - I made the aburaage the night before I intended to use them - saves time and effort! I also made the whole package instead of just the quantity I wanted to use - they freeze like a dream!

The first image was taken right after I got done de-oiling the aburaage. That rack is actually from my mini-grill - I figured that the rack would cool them faster and let the excess water drain a tad. (This is also the cooling rig I use when making tomagoyaki!)

The second image is during the flavoring step - those aburaage are boiling away in the soy sauce, mirin, sugar and niboshi! (If you look carefully, one of the niboshi is sitting on top of a square!)

The third image was taken last night while I was putting the udon together - I just slice them thin and it makes these easy to eat rings!

This picture was part of the original post - the only picture I remembered to take! Those are the niboshi - they really look like something bad happened to an aquarium, but I was thrilled to be using them. I figure that "intimidating" looking foods persist and make their way into other cultures because their taste outweighs the squick factor. I couldn't tell you exactly what the niboshi added to the mix, but I can tell you the Aburaage were delicious - the niboshi were part of the umami!

Would have been nice to remember to take a picture of the aburaage. sigh. (edited - yay! it IS nice! :) )

• 1/4 C H20
  
• 15 niboshi


• 2 T soy sauce
  
• 1 T mirin


• 1 T sugar


• 4 squares of abura-age
  

You need to de-oil the aburaage before anything else. It's simple - put them in boiling water for a few minutes, flip them around a few times, drain and even blot with a paper towel - you want to get a whole bunch of the oil out of them! Then I squeeze them out before I flavor them.

Bring everything except the abura-age to a boil in a small pot. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the abura-age and simmer - flip it several times. It is finished when most of the liquid is absorbed and the abura-age is a deep brown color. Allow to cool and then press out excess liquid so it is not too salty