What is tempura?
In Japan, tempura is a cooking method rather than a single dish. By the common account, the technique goes back to Portuguese traders and missionaries in the 16th century. Ebi tempura with shrimp is the best-known form. In Japan you dip it in tentsuyu, a dipping sauce of dashi, soy sauce and mirin, or sprinkle on just a little salt. On a bowl of rice with sweet sauce the dish is called Tendon, and on hot noodle broth Tempura Udon.
The right ingredients for tempura batter
- Flour: Low-protein flour such as cake or soft wheat flour stays light. If you replace a third with cornstarch, the coating gets even crispier. Ready-made tempura flour from an Asian grocery store you simply mix with water.
- Water: It has to be ice cold. Sparkling mineral water makes the batter a little airier.
- Egg: One egg yolk gives color and hold. With a whole egg the coating turns thicker and softer.
- Shrimp: Use large raw shrimp with the tail fin on, about 30 to 35 g each. Thaw frozen ones in the fridge and pat them thoroughly dry.
- Oil: Canola or sunflower oil. Japanese tempura cooks sometimes mix in a little toasted sesame oil, which gives a nutty aroma.
For the dip you need dashi. How to make it from kombu and bonito, or take a shortcut with powder, is explained in the piece on Dashi and Dashi Powder.
How to make the batter: the key steps
- Prepare the shrimp: Cut each shrimp crosswise 3 to 4 times on the belly side and press it flat on the board. This keeps it straight in the oil.
- Heat the oil first: The batter should not wait even a minute. Bring the oil to 175 °C (350 °F) before you stir. Without a thermometer, drip a little batter in: it sinks to the middle and rises right back up.
- Stir briefly: Whisk the egg yolk and water, add the flour and stir with chopsticks for just a few seconds. Lumps and dry flour streaks stay in. Long stirring builds gluten, and the coating turns tough like bread dough.
- Dust and dip: Turn the shrimp in a little flour, hold them by the tail and pull them through the batter. The flour makes the batter stick.
- Fry in small batches: Put 3 to 4 shrimp in the oil at a time and fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Between batches, fish out bits of batter with a sieve, otherwise they burn.
Common mistakes
- Smooth batter: It turns heavy and soaks up oil. Better to stir too little than too much.
- Too many shrimp in the pot: The oil cools down, and the tempura turns greasy and pale.
- Wet shrimp: The batter slides off and the oil spatters.
- Waiting: Tempura loses its crispness after a few minutes. Eat it straight from the pot or put it on a rack instead of a plate.
Variations
With the same batter you can fry sweet potato slices, eggplant, shiitake or pumpkin. The recipe for Yasai Tempura gives the cooking times for vegetables. For Kakiage you mix fine vegetable strips and small shrimp with the batter and fry them as flat fritters. The batter crumbs that fall off while frying are called tenkasu. Let them drain and sprinkle them over udon or into the batter for Okonomiyaki.
