Tempura
Japanese-style fritters — shrimp and seasonal vegetables in an ice-cold batter, fried into a light, lacy, shatteringly crisp coating. The magic is the contrast of the airy crust and tender inside; eat it hot with a dip of tsuyu.
Ingredients
- Shrimp · large, peeled8
- Vegetables · sweet potato, kabocha, eggplant, shishito200 g
- Frying flour · or cake flour, for dusting1 cup
- Oil · for frying4 cups
- Batter
- Cake flour1 cup
- Egg · beaten with cold water to 1 cup1
- Ice water · very cold0.75 cup
- Tsuyu dip
- Dashi0.5 cup
- Soy sauce2 tbsp
- Mirin2 tbsp
- Daikon · grated, to serve
Steps
- ⏲ 5 min
Peel the shrimp and score the belly so they stay straight. Cut the vegetables into fry-friendly pieces and pat everything completely dry.
- ⏲ 2 min
Lightly dust the shrimp and vegetables with flour so the batter grips.
- ⏲ 1 min
Whisk the egg with ice water, add the cake flour, and stir just a few strokes with chopsticks. A little dry flour is fine — never overmix.
- ⏲ 3 min
Heat the oil to 175°C. Dip each piece in batter and fry until crisp — about 1–2 minutes for shrimp, longer or shorter for vegetables.
- ⏲ 2 min
Drain on a rack. Warm the dashi, soy sauce, and mirin for the tsuyu and serve with grated daikon.
Tips & Variations
Variations
- Kakiage: Chop vegetables and shrimp small, fold into batter, and fry as one fritter.
- Tendon: Pile tempura over rice with a sweet-savory sauce.
- Tempura udon/soba: Set the tempura on a bowl of hot noodles.
- Salt-dipped: Skip the tsuyu for matcha or curry salt.
Tips
- Use ice water and mix the batter barely — overmixing builds gluten and turns it soggy.
- Pat the ingredients completely dry so the coating stays thin and crisp.
- Keep the oil at 175°C — batter dropped in should bob straight back up.
- Fry in small batches so the oil temperature doesn't crash.
Sign in to edit.
edits: 0 ·Edit history