Tempura

Tempura with Tentsuyu Dipping Sauce

Light, lacy Japanese tempura of prawns and vegetables, fried quickly at 170–180 °C and served with a warm dashi dipping sauce.

Prep

25 min

Cook

15 min

Total

40 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Medium

Recipe ingredients

• •300 g (10½ oz) raw prawns, shell on, head and shell on for flavor and presentation; deveined
• •1 small sweet potato, sliced into 5 mm rounds
• •200 g (7 oz) kabocha squash, pumpkin or kabocha; sliced into thin wedges
• •8 leaves shiso leaves, optional, traditional
• •1 medium egg yolk
• •200 ml (¾ cup + 1 tbsp) ice-cold water, very cold; ice cubes added keep batter cold
• •120 g (¾ cup + 2 tbsp) soft wheat flour (cake flour / tempura flour), do not substitute with bread flour; bleached cake flour is closest to Japanese tempura flour
• •700 ml (3 cups) neutral frying oil, rice bran, canola, or sunflower; avoid olive oil
• •200 ml (¾ cup + 1 tbsp) dashi, kombu and bonito dashi, or instant dashi powder dissolved in water
• •2 tbsp mirin
• •2 tbsp soy sauce
• •1 tsp sugar
• •60 g (about ½ cup) daikon radish, grated, for serving
• •1 tsp fresh ginger, grated, for serving
• •1 pinch matcha salt, matcha powder mixed 1:4 with fine salt, optional alternative to tentsuyu

Steps

1. 1 Prepare the prawns: peel leaving tail fan and last segment intact, devein, then make 3 small slits on the underside so they straighten. Pat very dry with paper towels.
2. 2 Prep vegetables: slice sweet potato and kabocha about 5 mm thick; dry the shiso leaves. Wet ingredients must be bone-dry before dipping so the batter clings.
3. 3 Make tentsuyu: combine dashi, mirin, soy sauce, and sugar in a small pot and bring just to a simmer. Keep warm.
4. 4 Heat oil in a heavy pot or wok to 170–180 °C (340–356 °F); use a thermometer — this is the traditional frying range. Below 160 °C the batter absorbs oil and turns heavy; above 190 °C it browns too fast.
5. 5 Make the batter at the last moment: in a bowl, lightly beat the egg yolk with the ice-cold water (keep a few ice cubes in it). Sift the flour over the top and stir only 8–10 strokes with chopsticks — lumps are correct. Overmixing develops gluten and makes the crust tough.
6. 6 Hold the batter bowl inside a larger bowl of ice while frying to keep it cold; cold batter meeting hot oil is what creates the lacy, pale crust.
7. 7 Dip and fry in small batches: dip a prawn or vegetable piece in flour first, shake off excess, then dip in batter just to coat, and lower into the oil tail-side down (for prawns). Fry 1–2 minutes, flipping once, until the batter is pale ivory with thin golden veins and crisp — prawns should be just opaque at the thickest part, internal temperature 62 °C / 144 °F.
8. 8 Drain on a wire rack (not paper towels, which steam the crust) for a few seconds and serve immediately.
9. 9 Plate tempura on a warm plate, serve with the warm tentsuyu in small individual bowls, and pass grated daikon and ginger at the table so each diner adds their own to taste.
10. 10 Freeze requirement for raw shellfish: if using sashimi-grade or raw-prep prawns from a non-commercial supplier where parasite history is unknown, freeze at -20 °C (-4 °F) for 7 days before use to destroy parasites.
11. 11 Safety note: if adding whole eggs instead of just yolk, fry to a minimum of 70 °C / 158 °F internal. Do not leave hot oil unattended; keep a small metal lid nearby to smother any flare-up.