Tochiage 栃尾揚げ

Tochio Food, It has been a part of Tochio food since the 1700’s and has developed over the years and there are theories to why it has continued to be a favorite. The most popular theory is the Ueseugi Kenshin had deep-fried tofu made as an offering to the Akiba Shrine to prevent fires from happening to the village. Other theories are that the location is far into the mountains and that it would be hard to get proteins, so they had to make what they could through vegetables and specialize in soybean dishes. 

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Mamesan Tofuya (Tofu Shop), 

Tochio-style, uses Enrei Soybeans that has a high protein and sugar of the Niigata variety. The Tochio way of making this dish has the soy beans soaking, separating soymilk and residual soybeans, heating the soymilk, mash soy beans with soymilk, squeeze soy milk out after it absorbs. The “Bitter Soymilk” is then mixed with minerals, solidified, cut-shaped, pressed (moisture draining), and then double deep-fried. The First Fry is for 18 minutes at (110°C-115°C) in rapeseed oil until golden brown and then the Second Fry is 8 minutes at (170°C) until crispy.