Easy Vegetable Tempura
For centuries, the Japanese love to fry their vegetables in tempura batter. But now, the rest of the world has fallen in love with tempura too, especially here in Southern California. It's easily found at our local Japanese restaurants and sushi bars. But just how hard is it to make an easy vegetable tempura?
My new video is a "how to" recipe for an easy vegetable tempura. I've laid it all out. Starting with super cold water, then the egg and flour, and then the finally mixing technique. Once you master this technique, the possibilities are truly endless. So now, go get some fresh vegetables and start frying up your favorite vegetable tempura.
Looking for a how to make sushi recipe? Try Sushi For Fishermen, it's full of the basics!
Easy Vegetable Tempura (serves 4)
4 green onions, cleaned but uncut
4 small Japanese egg plants halved
4 banana peppers cut in halves
2 bell peppers seeds and stem removed, cut in halves
1 medium zucchini sliced into 1/8” rounds
2 purple potatoes sliced into 1/8” rounds
2 quarts of vegetable frying oil
Cast iron frying pot or any heavy frying pot (for heat retention)
Tempura Batter
1 egg, refrigerated and cold
2 cups of semi-frozen water
2 cups all purpose flour for the batter
1 cup all purpose flour for coating the cut vegetables
Large bowl of ice cubes
Medium mixing bowl
Chop sticks for mixing
Tempura Dipping Sauce
1 tablespoon of Dashi dry powder (Japanese Bonito Flakes broth available at Asian markets)
½ cup of soy sauce
½ lemon juiced
2 cups of water
Start Making Easy Vegetable Tempura
1. Start by adding the dipping sauce ingredients into a small sauce pot and simmering for 15 minutes. Make sure and allow the dipping sauce to cool before using.
2. Next, begin by heating the frying oil to 370-380F.
3. Meanwhile prepare the mixing bowls. Start by nesting a medium-large mixing bowl, which will hold the batter, into a larger mixing bowl which is half filled with ice cubes. This in turn, will ensure keeping the batter cold, thus creating a flakey tempura fried crust.
4. Now create the batter inside the nestled bowl, by mixing the egg and water first. Then begin to add the flour, and by only using the chop sticks, to gently mix. Finally, only mix enough to wet all the flour. Here again, minimizing the mixing will ensure a flakey tempura crust.
5. Put approximately one cup of flour into a separate plastic bag. Now place no more than 3-4 pieces of cut vegetables into the bag and shake. Remove excess flour from vegetables and place into the COLD batter. Now add the 3-4 pieces into the hot oil (oil temperature should be between 370-380F) and fry only until golden brown. Make sure and ALWAYS FRY IN SMALL, NOT BIG BATCHES. This should only take 3-4 minutes. And then, place the fried vegetables on a drying rack or a paper towel lined platter. Serve with the dipping sauce. Enjoy!
NEED SOME KITCHEN STUFF? 🙂
Here's a great way to support Fisherman's Belly. Use our amazon links to purchase items you may need. You don't pay extra but, Amazon sends us a small commission on your purchase. Just click on the links below to take a look and shop around. Thanks, Yanni
__________________________________________________________➤ 30 Day Free Amazon Prime Membership
KITCHEN GADGETS & INGREDIENTS FOR THIS RECIPE 🌶
➤ Cast Iron Dutch Pot
http://amzn.to/2DIme2h ➤ Dashi, Dried Shaved Bonito Flakes (5-pac)
https://amzn.to/2ljT8lu ➤ Frying Kirkland Grapeseed Oil 2L
http://amzn.to/2CrNNj1 PHOTOGRAPHY EQUIPMENT USED 🎥
➤ Canon EOS 70D Food Photography & Video https://amzn.to/2Ib1yGF
➤ GoPro HERO4 Black
Comments