As someone who has only made this dish twice, you may or may not consider me qualified to make...
Comments on Preparation:
- Cut the silken tofu into bite-sized pieces rather than quarters for these reasons:
- Silken tofu tends to fall apart when you're trying to manipulate large chunks of it.
- The crust of the fried tofu will be difficult to cut with a spoon, so you'll end up eating the gooey insides and then having to deal with the skin.
- Smaller pieces cook faster.
- Don't use the cornstarch for these reasons:
- It doesn't stick to the tofu evenly.
- It cooks faster than the surface of tofu.
- If you didn't do a perfect job of patting the tofu dry, soon you'll have a cornstarch and water mixture all over the place.
- This dish is just as good without it.
- Don't put that much ginger in, sensei is a nutcase.
- Feel free to use chicken stock if you don't have vegetable stock available.
- Put some wasabi powder in the sauce (before you heat it, or it'll clump). Why? Because sensei told us to!