#ewew cooks Vegetable & Prawn Tempura

Tempura is a very popular dish in Japanese restaurants and it's one of my favourite orders when dining out at Japanese eateries.

I was probably overcame by a moment of madness when I decided to try and replicate the dish at home...so, get ready for my attempt at making Vegetable & Prawn Tempura.

If you search the internet for a tempura batter recipe, you'll be amazed at how many versions there are out there.  Based on the many different recipes, here's what they don't agree on:

 

1)  The type of flour used for the tempura batter...some use plain flour while others use self-raising flour, rice flour, cornstarch, potato starch or a combination of more than one.

2)  Some use whole eggs, some use only the yolks and some don't use eggs at all.
3)  Some use plain (tap) water while others use carbonated water, mineral water or even club soda.
Or, if this is all too confusing, just buy ready-made tempura flour!

 

But here's what they (or most) agree on:

 

1)  A flour to water ratio of about 1:1 (and the water must be very cold)

2)  Don't over-mix the batter

3)  Make it just when you're ready to fry and keep the batter ice-cold at all times

So, after scouring the internet for recipes, I settled on this combination for my tempura batter:

 

3/4 cup plain flour

2 tbsp potato starch (or cornstarch)

1 tsp baking powder
1 egg

 

Beat one egg and add the icy cold water (and a few ice cubes won't hurt) to the mixture.  Mix the plain flour, cornstarch and baking powder together and add it to the egg mixture.

 

Mix lightly.  Be careful not to over-mix the batter.  So far, so good =)  [#Tip: Some say using chopsticks is the best way of mixing the batter and mix only for a few secs (at most 1 min).  Lumps in the batter is completely fine....in fact, it's on purpose coz these lumps of batter turn into crispy morsels of delight when it hits the hot oil! ;)  I think I once saw (on TV) a Japanese lady making tempura and she was even more precise...1, 2, 3....that's it...just stir the batter 3 times and don't touch it, she says!] ;D

 

Sit your bowl of batter on top of another bowl of ice as a cold batter is crucial if you want your tempura to be crispy.  You are now ready for frying.

You can use any type of vegetables you like...or so I thought!  On my chopping board, I have green peppers, zucchinis, carrots, string beans, eggplant, Japanese daikon, potatoes and spring onions. 

Eggplant Slices

 

Spring Onions

 

Carrots & Japanese Daikon

 

Zucchinis & Potatoes

 

Green Pepper Slices

I was too lazy to heat up a wok full of oil, so I used a small pan to fry my tempura in batches.  So, here you have it....my attempt at making Vegetable Tempura!  Was it successful?  Yes and No!

YES....the tempura batter was a success :)  The batter was light and crisp!  As I was frying, I was eating some of them...as well as those little bits of crispy batter that broke off from the vegetables.

And NO.....it didn't stay crisp for long :(  If you eat it immediately, I would say my tempura was a success but if you leave it until you've finished frying the entire batch of vegetables, not so much.

Serve your tempura vegetables with a simple dipping sauce.  I just used a bottled sushi and sashimi soy sauce and added a little water and then grated some daikon over it.

[#Tip: Not all vegetables work with tempura.  Those vegetables with a firmer texture works better in my opinion.  I enjoyed the carrots, daikon, potatoes, string beans, green peppers and eggplant but not the zucchinis and spring onions.]

Seeing that I still had some tempura batter left, I took out some (deveined) prawns (that was defrosting in the fridge) and made a few snips at the abdomen (underside) of the prawn.  This will help prevent your prawn from curling up during the frying process.  [#Note: Although mine didn't curl up as much, it was also not totally straight as I did not press down on the prawns (hard) after I made the snips.]

Also, for presentation purposes, you should leave the tail intact but, since these prawns were not meant for this purpose (in the first place), I've already removed the tails.  Somehow, the batter didn't adhere as well with the prawns probably because the prawns were fried last (by then the batter was not as cold anymore).

And here's my Tempura Prawns served with the same dipping sauce.

There's a reason why there's only a few miserable prawns....so that I can showcase my beautiful Japanese plate....nice?.....wakakakaka! :D  [#P/S: It's not very often I get to use these plates.  I've no idea why I bought a set of Japanese plates and bowls, it's not that I'm very good at cooking Japanese anyway.  But, you know women-lah, love to buy these things, especially me, as I can't resist.  I have different tableware for different cuisines like Chinese, Japanese and western...lol!]

My take on why my tempura wasn't as successful

If I had to nail down a reason why my tempura didn't turn out as well, I would have to say it was the frying process (as I think I pretty much nailed the tempura batter).  It's not easy to fry at a constant (and right) frying temperature at home (without the use of a thermometer) coz we're just 'winging' it!  [#Tip: Getting a tempura recipe is the easy part but nobody tells you how to fry them perfectly!]

If I had just fried a small portion and eaten it immediately (when the crispiness was at its best), then I would say it's a success.  Now I know why I should leave making tempura in the hands of professionals (and pay for tempura at a restaurant)....so that they can bring it to me the moment it's fried! ;D

Lesson learnt!!! :'(