Inari Age (Flavoured Beancurd Pockets)

Was thinking of cooking Ramen today, rummaged through the fridge, took out pork belly, fish cake, small toupok, korean fried fishcakes, corn..etc..suddenly the image of Inari age flashed across my mind..

Next I knew was, put back korean fish cakes, small henghua taupok and fished out a packet of sqaure tou pok and started to make this for my Ramen..

Did a bit of search online and saw JOC's version being so easy thus i ran through once and adjusted the cooking method to suit what I had in my kitchen..

Drop-lid cooking enables the full flavour absorbtion of the broth and keeping the shape of beancurd pouches flat

Ingredients

1 packet of beancurd puffs (10 pcs)

2 packets of dashi powder/kelp powder

1 cup of water

2 tbsp mirin

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp of sugar (adjust along the way)

1 tbsp sake

Method

1. Blanch the beancurd pouches in hot water to rid the oil, wash it in cold water and squeeze out as much water as possible (careful not to break the pockets) the trick here is to place toufu pockets in between 2 plates and press out the water- it works wonder

2. Bring to boil all the ingredients except beancurd pockets.

3.Carefully place the pockets into the pot and place a lid (for my case I used a small dish) on top of the pockets and lower fire to simmer for 15 minutes or till the broth dries up.

4. Pick up each piece of Inari carefully and sprinkle some spring onions for garnish.

5.Eat it on its own or as a topping for Ramen or stuffed sushi rice into it and make inari sushi..

Note: Use a heavier lid to prevent the pockets from moving too much during the boiling process