Tempura

Tempura is one of my favorite picks at a Japanese restaurant, and I judge restaurants by the type of batter they use, texture of the tempura crust and how well the vegetables and proteins hold up underneath. I decided to make it at home one night and although deep-frying is not the most healthful option to cook, sometimes a girl’s just got to give in to her cravings!

Basically, any vegetable can be fried in tempura batter, but typically, you will find: eggplant, sweet onion, green onions, sweet potato, haricot verts or green bean, potato, carrot, shitake mushroom, and enoki mushroom on the menu at a restaurant. The trick is to slice the larger vegetable items into the same width and size so that cooking time is about the same for everything. Items such as eggplant and potatoes should be sliced into ¼” rounds. Green beans or haricots verts should be washed, dried and trimmed.

Seafood is the primary protein used in tempura, so shrimp, Atlantic cod [or any kind of fleshy, white fish], red snapper, and scallops may be used. Just make sure everything is cut and trimmed into slightly larger bite-sized pieces, and the shrimp is deveined and shelled.

Batter:

One part pastry flour
One part cold mineral water
Sea salt
A quart of vegetable or peanut oil

Special equipment: cooking thermometer, large deep fry pan and tongs

Heat oil to 400 degrees. Oil should not drop lower than 325 during the course of frying.



Mix the pastry flour, sea salt and mineral water together in a large bowl. Coat a few of your ingredients with the batter.

Once oil is hot, gently place 5-7 pieces of the vegetables or seafood into the pan. Needless to say, the oil will be HOT, so be careful of any splatter or splashes.




When the tempura items turn a light-medium golden brown, use the tongs and pick them out and place them on a plate lined with either newspapers or paper towels to absorb the excess oil.

Sprinkle with some sea salt flakes and freshly ground white pepper before plating. Serve with some steamed rice, a green salad and a traditional Japanese or German lager like Asahi, Sapporo or Spaten.