Hi everyone! Have you heard of a Japanese dish called Tempura(てんぷら、天ぷら)? Tempura is a dish that has battered and deep fried seafood and vegetables.Tempura is one of the major Japanese dishes that you will easily find at local Japanese restaurants. You can easily make this at home. Ingredients could be any seafood, and pretty much any vegetables you might have in your refrigerator!

Let’s get cooking! Below is a quick and easy recipe for you to try!

Ingredients:

You can make Tempura with pretty much anything. We don’t normally use meat for this dish, but any seafood you would like to try.

• White fish(any kind), shrimp, squid, etc…
• vegetables, such as carrots, shiitake mushroom, green bean, egg plant, bell pepper, pumpkin, squash, potato, sweet potato, etc..
• 3/4 cup of cold water – ** to make crispy Tempura, this is important!
• 1 cup of self-rising flour*
• 1 large egg
• For dipping sauce: 1/2 cup water, 1+1/2 tbs sugar, 2+1/2 tbs Mirin(Japanese rice wine), 2+1/2 tbs Soy Sauce
• Daikon Radish – if you prefer.

*You can buy the pre-mixed Tempura flour at Asian market nearby. However, you won’t need to buy them if you have self-rising flour at home.  I found using self-rising flour works the best when making Tempura. It works better than all purpose flour!  If you don’t have the self-rising flour at home, you can also mix 1-2 teaspoon of baking powder to your all purpose flour.

Cooking Direction:

1. Cut out seafood and vegetables of your choice.
2. Preheat the oil to around 350 degrees in a Dutch-oven.
3. Preparing batter: Combine egg and iced water in a bowl; gradually add flour, whisking using chopsticks, not to overmix the batter. Batter should be lumpy, not smooth. You do not want to prepare the batter ahead of time. Make this batter “right before” you start cooking Tempura.
4. Take each seafood and vegetable and dip in batter. Fry them in the hot oil. You do not want to overcrowd the pot. Fry them until lightly golden and cooked through. Transfer to a paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain.
5. Mix 1/2 cup water, 1+1/2 tbs sugar, 2+1/2 tbs Mirin(Japanese rice wine), 2+1/2 tbs Soy Sauce to make dipping sauce.  I personally like to add shredded Daikon to the dipping sauce. If you like the Daikon flavor, you can try it.

You can also add Tempura to your noodles, such as Udon or Soba.  It goes really well, and tempura will add extra flavor to your soup base.

Try cooking Tempura one of these days!