Fried Konnyaku

Published on July 10, 2015 | By Yuki |

- Difficulty Level

When I visited Japan, I heard that konnyaku can be used as meat substitute. By freezing and defrosting, konnyaku changes its texture and flavor.

But if you expect some magical transformation of konnyaku, you will be disappointed. I tried it, and I honestly didn’t think defrost and cooked konnyaku tastes like meat at all.

But it is true that by freezing konnyaku, the texture changes, so that even if you don’t like its jello-like texture, you might be able to like it after its cooked in this way. I thought it was good, if you don’t expect meat substitute tastes like real meat.

You can basically cook it with any vegetables you have at hand. I used tofu and scallions. Zucchini, carrots, daikon, white turnips, broccoli, onions, kale, or almost any kind of vegetables would work.

Any vegetable oil can be used for this recipe, but sesame oil particularly goes well with this recipe as it gives satisfying rich flavor and aroma when you cook without meat.

Konnyaku can be found at refrigerated section of Japanese grocery stores.

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Ingredients

1 package konnyaku
1/2 block tofu sliced into about 1″ x 1″ x 1/4″
1 bunch scallions cut into 1″ length
3 tbsp noodle soup base diluted with 3 tbsp water (adjust the amount depending on the strength of the soup base and the amount of vegetables)
2 tbsp sesame oil
Chopped scallions to garnish

Instructions

Completely freeze a pack of konnyaku a day prior to cooking, and take it out of the freezer and thaw in room temperature.
Rinse the konnyaku under running water, and cut or tear to bite size. Pat dry or squeeze lightly to remove excess water.
Scallions and tofu are cut into 1".
Heat a pan and add 1 tbsp of sesame oil. When the oil heats up, fry sliced tofu. When one sides turned to golden color after few minutes, turn them to brown the other side. Set them aside.
Add the rest of sesame oil in the pan, and fry konnyaku. Brown both sides.
Return browned tofu in the pan, and add scallions. Fry them for 3 minutes, and add diluted noodle soup base. Mix well before turning off the heat.
Sprinkle chopped scallions to garnish and serve.