Japan · 50 min · Fish · Side dish · For confident cooks
Fuki to Atsuage no Nimono
In German: Geschmorter Pestwurz mit frittiertem Tofu · In English: Simmered butterbur and fried tofu
For 4 servings · US units
Butterbur stalks and thick fried tofu, gently simmered in dashi
Fuki, the stalks of Japanese butterbur, are a spring vegetable with a clean, faintly bitter edge — here they simmer with atsuage, thick fried tofu, in dashi seasoned with soy sauce and mirin, then sit in the liquid until the flavour settles in. It's a side dish, good warm or cold, easy to make in quantity — and better still cooked the day before. When plenty of bonito flakes go into the broth, the dish is called Tosa-style, after the region around Kōchi.
Ingredients
- 10½ ozbutterbur (fuki)salt-rolled, parboiled, peeled, cut into 4–5 cm pieces
- 2Fried tofu pouchblanched to remove excess oil, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1⅔ cupsfrom kombu and bonito flakes or instant granules with waterJapan's basic stock, usually steeped from kombu seaweed and dried bonito flakes: clear, lightly smoky, deeply savoury.Substitute: The closest stand-in is instant dashi in granules or sachets; it is usually saltier and a little flatter, so go easy on further seasoning. For a vegetarian version, soak kombu and dried shiitake in cold water. Chicken or vegetable stock is not a good substitute: it brings its own heavier flavour, and the dish no longer tastes Japanese.Read more
- 2 tbspsoy saucelight or regular
- 2 tbspSweet Japanese rice wine for cooking that gives sauces and glazes a mild sweetness and shine.Substitute: Sake or dry sherry with some sugar, about one teaspoon per tablespoon, comes close; sweetness and shine are roughly right, but the rounded, slightly malty depth of mirin is missing.Read more
- 1½ tbspcooking sakeJapanese rice wine, used in cooking mainly to round out flavours, tame fishy notes and add umami.Substitute: Dry sherry or Chinese Shaoxing wine come closest but bring their own stronger flavour; mirin is not a substitute because it is distinctly sweet.Read more
- 1 tbspsaltfor rolling the stalks on the board (itazuri) and for seasoning
- 1 tspsugarfor a sweeter simmering liquid (optional)
- 1carrotcut into 6 mm rounds, simmered until tender first (optional)
- ⅓ ozcoarsely shaved, laid on top instead of a drop lid (optional)Dried, smoked and fermented skipjack tuna shaved into paper-thin flakes, with a smoky, deep, fishy savouriness.Substitute: There is no equivalent substitute, because the smoky fish flavour is unique. For dashi, a plain kombu stock with dried shiitake gives savouriness and is vegetarian, but it tastes milder and earthier and lacks the smoke. Instant dashi granules usually contain bonito themselves and come close, though they are saltier and flatter. As a topping, crumbled nori can stand in, tasting of the sea rather than smoke and without the dancing effect.Read more
Method
- Salt-roll the fuki stalksTrim the fuki stalks so they fit in your pot. Scatter salt over a cutting board and roll the stalks back and forth on it until they glisten and release a little juice (itazuri).
- Blanch and chill the stalksBring a generous amount of water to the boil and blanch the stalks for 3–4 minutes, then transfer them straight into cold water.
- Peel and cut the stalksOnce cool, peel the stalks starting from the thick end — the skin comes away in strips. Cut them into 4–5 cm lengths.
- Prepare the atsuagePour boiling water over the atsuage to wash off excess oil, halve it lengthwise and cut it into pieces 1–2 cm wide.
- Make the seasoned brothIn a wide pot, bring the dashi to the boil with soy sauce, mirin and sake, and season with salt and, if you like, a little sugar.
- Simmer under a drop lidAdd the fuki and atsuage, cover with a drop lid or a regular lid, and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Instead of the drop lid you can lay coarsely shaved bonito flakes over the surface — they soak up the broth as it cooks.
- Cool in the brothTurn off the heat and let everything cool in the liquid, anywhere from 20 minutes to 1½ hours, so the seasoning works its way in.
- Serve with the liquidServe lukewarm or gently reheated, with a little of the simmering liquid spooned over.
Tips and variations
Thin aburaage can go into the pot in place of atsuage. Carrot rounds should be simmered in the dashi for 10 minutes until tender before the rest goes in; pre-cooked bamboo shoots cook alone in the broth for 15 minutes first, then a further 20 minutes together with the fuki and atsuage. For a quick broth, use water with instant dashi and sugar and reduce it by half. If you'd rather skip the preparation, pre-boiled fuki is sold ready to use; atsuage, on the other hand, you can make yourself by pressing tofu and frying it in 175 °C oil for 4–5 minutes. Serve it as a side dish, lukewarm — or on warm days straight from the pot, cold.
Allergens
Contains: Fish, Cereals containing gluten, Milk (including lactose), Soybeans
These notes follow from this recipe's ingredient list. Ready-made products and brands may contain further allergens — please check the packaging yourself.
Something not right?
This recipe was put together from independent sources and checked before publishing. Even so, a mistake can slip through — an amount that does not add up, a step that does not work as written. If you spot something, write to us: we will look into it and put it right.
