Tempura Alert!

tempura2resized
Originally uploaded by chibicap

Ever since I got the idea of making homemade tempura from the Japanese Cooking at Home cookbook (by Hideo Dekura) given to my sister and I for our birthday, my dad's been telling us to make them since for get-togethers and socials in the house! It's almost sickening since we've made them three days in a row before. The vegetables of choice we use are:

acorn squash (though butternut squash is preferable)
zucchini
cucumber
eggplant
string beans
broccoli
carrots

We also deep fry king prawns, of course.

My dad wants us to make tempura again this Sunday for a family gathering in the house. It'll be his birthday on the 15th.

Besides your vegetables and shrimp, you also need:

Tempura Batter Ingredients:
1 cup tempura mix flour (you can yield as many servings as you need according to the directions on the tempura mix flour box you have, if you feel that 1 cup of flour and water isn't enough)
1 cup cold water (sometimes I put ice in the water to ensure that it's cold enough, but refrigerated water should work)

Potato starch is also needed prior to dipping your vegetables/shrimp into the batter.

Other Items:
vegetable oil for deep frying
1 tablespoon sesame oil


Directions:
1. Chop your vegetables of choice and devein your prawns (be sure to remove the head and the shell of the prawns, first, but leave the tail).

2. Create the tempura batter mix by placing the flour into a bowl, then adding in the cold water. Stir quickly--just enough to moisten the flour, but nothing more. The batter should be thin and lumpy.

3. Place a large amount of vegetable oil into a deep frying pan (make sure there is enough space to completely coat the ingredients in oil while you're frying). Heat to 180-degrees Celsius (or until oil is bubbling).

4. Get your ingredients ready: coat the vegetables and shrimp in potato starch, then dip them into the batter. My sister and I usually coat the vegetables and shrimp ahead of time, though we dip the food into the batter right before putting it into the frying pan.

5. After all your food is coated in the starch, dip them into the batter and fry until they have a light golden colored coat. Strain them or pat them dry on a paper towel.

6. For a dipping sauce, you can use a tablespoon of soysauce and 1/2 cup "super dashi", which is a Japanese soup base made of cooked kelp dashi, cooked shiitake dashi, and dried bonito flakes. However, if you do not have this soup base, soy sauce diluted with some mirin should be an ample substitute, though it is a bit salty.


And that's just about it for the tempura. (I followed the directions based off of the Japanese Cooking at Home cookbook by Hideo Dekura, so props to him.)

This is an easy recipe, but it can be quite messy during the dipping and frying process.