Tempura

Tempura (天ぷら or 天麩羅, tenpura) is a Japanese dish of seafood or vegetables that have been battered and deep fried.

Among my favorite ingredients to use for Tempura are: Onion Rings, Sweet Potatoes, Asparagus, and Shrimp.

The batter itself is extremely quick and easy to make as long as you adhere to a few tricks such as keeping the batter cold (the coldness of the batter hitting the hot oil helps to create an extra crunchy texture).

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of All Purpose Flour
1 beaten Egg
1 cup of Ice Cold Water
A few Ice Cubes
Vegetables and/or Seafood

DIRECTIONS:

First add oil such as Vegetable or Peanut (oil with a high smoke point) to a Dutch oven or a deep Cast Iron Pan - something that will hold heat well. You'll want to add enough oil so that when you add your vegetables, they will be completely submerged (even though they tend to float). I usually put my oil filled cast iron pan over medium heat, but stove top temperatures can vary... So you'll want the oil temperature to be about 350 degrees (F) if you have an oil thermometer.

NOTE - When you're done making vegetable Tempura, the oil is usually still clean enough that you can reuse it several times for Tempura. Just wait until it cools, then pour it into a jar and store it in the fridge. If you cook seafood with it, you may want to get rid of the oil after.

Before you mix the batter, you'll want to get all your vegetables and seafood prepped. Again, this is largely because the Tempura batter needs to stay cold, so you'll want to wait until the vegetables are ready and the oil is up to temperature before making the batter. I usually chop onions into rings, peel the sweet potatoes and use a mandolin to make thick chip-like slices, and I use a vegetable peeler to clean up the asparagus. Devein the shrimp if needed, peel off the shells, but leave the tails on.

To make a Tempura batter, mix 1 cup of Flour, 1 beaten Egg, 1 cup Ice Cold Water and a few Ice Cubes. Because it is so important to keep the batter cold, I might also put the bowl I use to mix everything in the freezer long before I start making Tempura, to keep the vessel for the batter cold as well.

You'll want to mix these ingredients, but not too well. Don't even think of using a whisk. I usually use chopsticks, or just a fork or spoon. You want the ingredients MIXED, but NOT SMOOTH. The more clumps the better.

Usually it's best to start with the thicker or heavier vegetables first, since they take the longest. So I usually do the Sweet Potatoes first (sorry no pictures).

Next I'll do the onions or asparagus. Just submerge your ingredients into the batter so they're well covered.

When you remove the ingredients, be sure to tap off some of the extra batter before putting them into the hot oil.

Remember to add the ingredients to the pan very gently. The last thing you want to do is drop them into the pan from any height as you can wind up splashing the hot oil risking burn or fire.

And then FRY!!

Tongs or Chopsticks are a hugely important tool for making Tempura. I prefer tongs, since they're a little longer and you don't want your hand or wrist burned by the oil. Cook the vegetables for a minute or two on each side and then flip them over for another minute or so. Most everything will cook extremely fast.

The best way to judge when they're ready is by the look. The batter will look solid and crispy, but not too brown.

Once you pull the veggies out of the oil, I usually let them sit on a rack over a sheet pan lined with foil which I keep next to everything on the stove. This will allow for the Tempura to dry and any excess oil will drip into the pan, making cleanup easier. I DO NOT recommend paper towels. If you leave the Tempura in paper towels, it can result in the bottom part of the Tempura being somewhat soggy from the oily towels.

Hmm... less Sweet Potatoes in the picture... Must have eaten some...

 You can fry the rest of the vegetables in the same way.

One important thing to do between each item you fry is to clean out the little bits of extra batter from your oil.

Use a metal spider spatula or whatever you have available to scoop out the little extra bits of batter. Otherwise, the bits of batter will burn and impart a burnt flavor on your Tempura.

I usually save the seafood/shrimp for last - otherwise they might impart an unwanted flavor to your vegetables.

Make sure the shrimp are well coated

Tap off some of the extra batter

 When you add the battered shrimp to the oil, it's good to hold the shrimp in the oil for a moment (using tongs would be safer) so that the batter starts to cook and doesn't come off in the oil.

Cook until it starts to brown on each side. Might take a minute longer than the vegetables on each side.

Let the shrimp cool/dry on the rack for a couple minutes and start plating!!

SAUCE - for sauce you could use Soy Sauce or Ponzu (which is basically Soy Sauce with Lemon or Lime juice added). For more depth of flavor, I usually combine 1/4 cup of soy sauce, 1 clove minced garlic, a teaspoon of minced ginger, a dash of red pepper flakes, a tablespoon or two of rice vinegar, and tablespoon or two of lime juice.

VARIATIONS:

Some people swear by adding corn starch to the batter mixture, or cutting the flour with rice flour, and others insist on using seltzer water (or some carbonated liquid). There is nothing wrong with any of these approaches to making the batter, however, the recipe above works perfectly so long as you keep the batter cold.

KEEPING THE BATTER COLD:

An additional tip on keeping the batter cold is as simple as putting the batter in your fridge between frying sessions. There's no reason it needs to sit out next to the hot oil while you're cooking. In some Japanese restaurants, they will make a new batch of batter for each order of Tempura, as the longer it sits, the quality of the batter will deteriorate.