Tasty Tempura

One of the oldest imported dishes is tempura, although it has been so thoroughly adopted that its foreign roots are unknown to most people, including many Japanese. As such, it is considered washoku. Tempura came to Japan from Portuguese sailors in the 16th century as a technique for cooking fish. The most popular seafood items include prawns, squid, shrimp, scallops, kisu (a type of smelt), and other kinds of fish. Many varieties of vegetable are also available, including eggplant, lotus root, green pepper, sweet potato, squash, shiitake mushroom, onion, shiso (perilla) leaf, and carrot. Usually some seasonal fishes are offered as well, depending on the time of year.

* Tempura


4 shrimps
1 fillet white fish (such as cod, haddock or plaice)
4 shiitake mushrooms or buttercup mushrooms
1/2 aubergine
1/2 sweet potato
1 green pepper
4 baby sweetcorn
1 onion
1/2 parsnip
30-50g plain flour

* Batter

200ml water
1 beaten egg
100g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Shrimps: Shell the shrimps, then de-vein by inserting a toothpick at the curve of the back and pulling out the alimentary canal.
White fish: Fillet and cut into bite-size pieces. Remove any fine bones if preferred.
Shiitake: Discard the stems but don't slice.
Aubergine: Wash thoroughly and trim both ends. Slice into rounds apporoximately 1cm thick.
Sweet potato: Wash thoroughly and scrape off the skin. Slice into rounds approximately 5mm thick.
Green pepper: Cut into half and discard the seeds. Slice roughly 1.5cm thick.
Baby sweetcorn: Wash thoroughly and leave whole.
Onion: Peel the skin and trim both ends. Slice into rounds 5mm thick.
Parsnip: Wash thoroughly and scrape off the skin. Cut in half and cut into cubes 5mm thick.
French radish and ginger: Grate the French radish and ginger separately.

Heat the vegetable oil either in a heavy sauce pan or deep fryer at about 170C (340F). Meanwhile, make the batter by measuring the water and beaten eggs up to 200ml. Then mix together and add the 100g of flour and the baking powder. Stir loosely so that the lumps remains in the batter. Test the oil temparature by dropping in a bit of batter. If the batter sinks halfway and then rises up to the surface, the oil is ready to use.

Fry the vegetables first as follows: Sprinkle some of the 30-50g of flour over the vegetables which you are going to cook and then dip each item in batter and shake off any excess. Fry until the food is cooked or the bubbles around the food become smaller and sizzle quieter.
Shrimp: Heat the oil to a slightly higher temperature, around 180C (360F). Dip into the batter up to the tail then, still holding the tail, slip each shrimp gently into the oil and let go. When they rise to the surface turn over and cook the other side.

* Dipping Sauce

400ml dashi (use bonito stock or other fish stock)
100ml soy sauce
100ml mirin

Combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to the boil. Cool to room temperature.

* To garnish

6 French radishes
1 ginger
700ml vegetable oil or deep frying


The rule of eating tempura is to get it while it's hot. For the dipping sauce, it's a good idea to dip the tempura quickly and avoid lengthy soaking. The sauce may come with a small mound of grated radish, which can be mixed in and serve at room temperature.


Yum Yum!!

Thanks kyokoskitchen, bento and google images