Tempura
Japan's featherlight fried shrimp and vegetables, coated in a barely-mixed, ice-cold batter and fried until crisp but pale gold - keeping the batter ice-cold and lumpy rather than smooth is what prevents the flour's gluten from developing, which is exactly what gives tempura its shatteringly light, non-greasy crust instead of a heavy, bread-like one.
⏱ 40 min🍽 4 servings
dinnerasian
Ingredients
- •12 shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails on
- •1 sweet potato, sliced
- •1 zucchini, sliced
- •1 bell peppers, sliced
- •1 cup flour
- •1 egg
- •1 cup ice water
- •4 cups vegetable oil, for frying
- •1/2 cup dashi
- •2 tbsp soy sauce
- •2 tbsp mirin
- •2 tbsp daikon, grated
Steps
- 1.Combine the dashi, soy sauce, and mirin in a small pot, bring to a brief simmer, then remove from heat and let cool - this is the dipping sauce, tentsuyu.
- 2.Pat the shrimp and vegetables completely dry with paper towels - any surface moisture will make the batter slide off or cause dangerous oil splatter.
- 3.Heat the oil in a deep, heavy pot to 350°F.
- 4.Just before frying, whisk the egg into the ice water, then add the flour all at once and stir with just a few strokes - the batter should still be lumpy; overmixing develops gluten, which is what makes tempura heavy instead of light and crisp.
- 5.Working in small batches, dip the shrimp and vegetable pieces into the batter and lower them gently into the hot oil.
- 6.Fry for 1-2 minutes, until the batter is crisp and just barely golden - real tempura should stay pale, not deep brown.
- 7.Drain on a wire rack (not paper towels, which trap steam and soften the crust).