I know I’ve been preaching about how healthy Japanese food is compared to American food but Japanese cooking has its dark-side too. Take tempura for example: Tempura is Japanese batter-dipped, deep-fried vegetables and/or seafood. I think it’s doubly evil not only because it’s deep fried but because it uses veggies as a lure for unsuspecting souls who seek healthy foods. I mean, c’mon, it’s got the word vegetable right in the name. How bad could it be?
I love tempura. When I go out for sushi or to an Asian restaurant that serves it, I almost always order it. I feel horribly guilty after eating it but also a profound sense of satisfaction as well. There’s something to be said for that occasional unhealthy, greasy, meal or snack that hits the spot like nothing else. Tempura at a sushi joint though, can be a bit pricey.
I decided to make tempura at home but was too lazy to make the batter from scratch. I’ve found tempura batter mix in a box at almost every Asian store I’ve been to. I used a vegan batter mix (I’m sure they didn’t mean to be vegan as the first recipe on said box was for shrimp tempura) before to see how it would fare, with satisfactory results. After making the tempura and sitting down to a meal of deep fried veggies, I will never again make tempura as long as I live.
Don’t let me dissuade you from making one of my favorite Japanese guilty pleasures at home!
This list of ingredients and directions is for people who are too busy to make everything from scratch…
INGREDIENTS:
- Tempura batter mix
- An assortment of veggies including: potatoes, onions, sweet potatoes, broccoli, Japanese pumpkin (kabocha squash), mushrooms, green beans, lotus root, okra, Japanese eggplant (aubergine) or whatever you’re brave enough to fry
- Enough oil to fill a wok to deep fry the veggies
- Tempura dipping sauce
DIRECTIONS:
- Cut the veggies into 1/4 inch thick pieces trying to cut lengthwise of the vegetable. Make damn sure that the vegetables are dry after you cut them or you’ll have a mess when you put them in the oil.
- Mix the batter according to the box, leaving some lumps in the batter.
- Start heating the oil in a wok or pan deep enough to fry in. Make sure that the oil is 350 degrees before you begin to fry the tempura. A good way to tell if the oil is hot enough is to drop a bit of batter in the oil. If the batter rises immediately rises to the surface its ready.
- Dunk the veggies into the mix, completely covering them with the batter. If you want, you can cut the veggies into smaller pieces and have a veggie medley (AKA kakiage) by mixing them together in the tempura batter and frying them like hush puppies.
- Carefully ladle the ingredients into the hot oil using a large cooking spoon or whatever utensil of choice you like.
- Fry the harder veggies like potatoes and squash for around 10-12 min and the other, softer veggies 8 min. or till they’re all a very light golden brown. One thing I noticed when I made the tempura was that the veggies didn’t seem to change gold- brown until after I took them out of the oil…I guess they kept cooking even when they were outta the oil or that was just due to the mix we used.
- Spoon the cooked tempura onto some paper towels to absorb some of the grease.
- Serve with the sauce immediately.
The next set of ingredients is for hardcore cooks and those who don’t have access to an Asian market.
INGREDIENTS:
- An assortment of veggies including: potatoes, onions, sweet potatoes, broccoli, Japanese pumpkin (kabocha squash), mushrooms, green beans, lotus root, okra, Japanese eggplant (aubergine) or whatever you’re brave enough to fry
- Enough oil to fill a wok enough to deep fry the veggies.
For the batter:
- 1 scant cup of ice cold water
- 1 extra large egg, well beaten
- 3/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
- 2 to 3 ice cubes
For the dipping sauce:
- 1 2/3 cups dashi or seafood stock
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup mirin (or substitute with 1/2 cup sake and 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar)
DIRECTIONS:
- Mix the egg and water together in a bowl. Roughly fold the flour into the mix with a fork or chopsticks. DO NOT BEAT. The batter should be a bit lumpy. Add the ice cubes. Set batter aside.
- Mix the all the ingredients for the sauce together in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Cut the veggies into 1/4 inch thick pieces trying to cut lengthwise of the vegetable. Make damn sure that the vegetables are dry after you cut them or you’ll have a mess when you put them in the oil.
- Start heating the oil in a wok or pan deep enough to fry in. Make sure that the oil is 350 degrees before you begin to fry the tempura. A good way to tell if the oil is hot enough is to drop a bit of batter in the oil. If the batter immediately rises to the surface its ready.
- Dunk the veggies into the mix, completely covering them with the batter. If you want, you can cut the veggies into smaller pieces and have a veggie medley by mixing them together in the tempura batter and frying them like hush puppies.
- Carefully ladle the ingredients into the hot oil using a large cooking spoon or whatever utensil of choice you like.
- Fry the harder veggies like potatoes and squash for around 10-12 min and the other, softer veggies 8-10 min. or till they’re all a very light golden brown. One thing I noticed when I made the tempura was that the veggies didn’t seem to change gold- brown until after I took them out of the oil…I guess they kept cooking even when they were outta the oil or that was just due to the mix we used.
- Spoon the cooked tempura onto some paper towels to absorb some of the grease.
- Serve with the sauce immediately.
I like eating tempura in a controlled environment where I don’t have to clean up the massive mess this leaves behind and where I don’t have the temptation to fry everything in the fridge to see what will happen. When I made this, I didn’t dry the veggies off completely and I got a lil’ careless; the result being a huge burn on my right hand which immediately blistered up.
Yet I do like tempura - just not making it at home. One of the reasons I liked making this at home was:
- I could experiment with veggies that aren’t served in restaurants.
DO NOT be tempted to fry fruit and other weird crap in the leftover oil with the leftover batter. You just end up feeling dirty and guilty and it just doesn’t seem quite right.
I didn’t like this recipe because:
- It was messy and took a long time to prepare.
- It was too tempting to fry up a lot of tempura since it did take so long to make.
- Tempura is really not all that healthy (surprise)!
- It seemed far, far too greasy when I made it at home.
- Cleanup was a bitch.
Those of you out there who are looking for the Japanese equivalent of American French fries, I hope you’ll be satisfied with tempura. It’s a good dish on occasion so I recommend trying it just once so you can draw your own conclusions.
Difficulty: Moderate
Time: Hour and a half
Ingredient Availability: Very Easy
