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1
Place the konbu on the bottom of a clay donabe. Pour in the soft water. Set the pot over a heat source at the table — a portable gas or charcoal burner suited to sustained low heat. Bring the water slowly to 75–80°C. The surface should tremble with small, lazy bubbles rising from the konbu; there must be no rolling boil. The konbu will begin to swell and release a faint, clean oceanic fragrance — this is the signal that the infusion is underway.
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2
Lower the silken tofu blocks gently into the trembling water. Maintain the temperature strictly between 75 and 80°C for the duration of service — this is where the dish lives or dies. Vigorous boiling fractures the kinugoshi structure, producing a crumbly, rough-textured result that defeats the preparation's entire purpose. The water must never rise above a bare simmer. The tofu is ready when it has warmed through and the surface turns from cool-white to a faintly translucent, soft ivory — approximately 8 to 10 minutes.
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3
Set out individual small bowls, one per diner, along with a small pitcher or bowl of ponzu and separate dishes of negi, grated ginger, and katsuobushi. Gomadare may be offered as an alternative. The condiment set is kept minimal — the classic arrangement is not under-equipped; it is calibrated.
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4
Each diner scoops a portion of tofu from the communal pot into their own bowl using a flat ladle or slotted spoon. Ponzu is poured over the tofu in the individual bowl — not into the communal pot. Condiments are applied to taste at the bowl. The tofu, when correctly warmed, will yield under the lightest pressure of a spoon: soft, trembling, and uniformly silky from surface to centre.
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5
The pot remains over its heat source throughout the meal. Service continues at a meditative pace — diners return to the pot as often as desired. The broth, now a gentle konbu dashi, may be drunk from the bowl at the meal's close. Its flavour should be clean and faintly sweet, with no intrusive seasoning — a dashi-water, not a seasoned soup.