These are two typical dishes I used to eat in Izakaya (Japanese pub/reastaurants) when I lived in Japan. Excellent as nibbles to wash down with decent Japanese beer! Now that I’ve mastered the mandoline I thought I’d try my hand at renkon chips. Renkon is usually translated as Lotus Root but it is actually a rhizome. Either way it tastes good and is an incredibly versatile food and it looks fantastic too! Tofu is generally thought of as a health food and even deep fried I think it’s still probably quite healthy and it tastes great with spring onions and soy sauce. In summer I wouldn’t bother deep frying it but just eat it as it is with soy sauce and spring onions but in winter it’s nicer cooked and warm! These hardly count as recipes but I thought that it was worth posting as guidance if nothing else.
Renkon Chips
1 smallish lotus rhizome
– Heat up the deep fat frier.
– Slice the renkon finely on a mandoline and blot dry with kitchen paper.
– Scatter into the basket of the deep fat frier, don’t try to do them all at once cook them in batches.
– Deep fry for 2-3 minutes then tip onto kitchen paper to drain while you cook the rest.
– Return them all to the deep fat frier for a further 1-2 minutes. Watch VERY CAREFULLY as it only takes a short amount of time for them to burn as mine started to do.
– Again place on kitchen paper to dry then serve hot with a pinch of salt sprinkled over.
Deep Fried Tofu
silken tofu
1 or 2 spring onions, chopped
– Cut the tofu into chunks and heat the deep fat frier.
– Scatter the tofu into the basket and deep fry for about 3-5 minutes until golden on the outside.
– Drain on kitchen paper then serve scattered with spring onions with soy sauce.
Anna in the kitchen 
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