Homemade Atsu-age

Atsu-age is deep-fried tofu cutlets. I like using these in my stir-frys instead of regular tofu because it holds its shape better, and is a little more tasty. I have a book called The Book of Tofu, which is VERY informative and interesting. It's amazing how many different ways soybeans can be used. And its very healthy too. I've always just bought them pre-fried in a vacuum pack, but they looked simple to make, it turned into one of those "why not make my own?" kinda thing. So without further ado... let me show you the way...

Started off cutting the tofu into thirds and placing them on my cutting board, and placed a weight on top to get rid of excess moisture. I used extra-firm tofu, since I didn't want to take the chance of it crumbling on me. The books says to do this for 30 minutes, but I just left it for a few hours.
And then I deep-fried it till it turned golden brown. It would of been good to eat these hot with a little soy sauce and some grated daikon, but that will have to be next time.
After cooling, I sliced them up. Don't they look great?
And into my stir-fry it went, along with some cabbage, mushrooms and carrots, seasoned with ginger, garlic salt, soy sauce, and Chinese stock. The outside of the tofu really absorbs the sauce, and makes it really good.