Hansuke-dofu (Tofu Simmered with Grilled Eel Heads)
Quick answer
- Total time
- 40 min
- Level
- Medium
- Servings
- 4 servings
- Ingredients
- 7
About this dish
In Osaka, the grilled heads left over after eel is made into kabayaki are called hansuke.
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Rinsed with boiling water to take off excess glaze and fat, they go into a broth of dashi, soy sauce, sugar and sake with grilled tofu, and the deep eel flavor passes through the broth into the tofu. It comes from a merchant city that wasted nothing, not even cheap by-products. The heads are full of small bones and are all lifted out; only tofu, scallion and strained broth go into the bowl.
Ingredients
Instructions
- 1
Cut 360g grilled tofu into eight rectangles measuring about 3 by 4 by 2cm.
Cut 30g green onion into 3cm lengths.
- 2
Set 100g fully cooked eel heads in a sieve and slowly pour over 500ml boiling water to rinse excess sauce and fat.
Remove visible sharp fins and loose bone fragments with tweezers.
- 3
Bring 200ml dashi, sugar, soy sauce, and sake to a simmer in a clay or wide pot.
Add tofu in one layer, cover with a damp paper lid, and simmer over medium-low for 12 minutes.
- 4
Nestle eel heads into the broth and simmer on low for 8 minutes, adding onion for the final 2 minutes.
Remove every head, strain broth through a fine sieve to exclude hard bones, and serve only tofu, onion, and strained broth.
References checked
These references were consulted when this page was prepared or corrected. A source check does not mean the recipe was independently kitchen-tested.
- 일본 농림수산성 うちの郷土料理
『おおさかの郷土料理集～行事食と食文化の伝承』（公益財団法人大阪府学校給食会） · Checked: 2026-08-11
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