Tempura

Ingredients:
Koromo (batter):
1 egg, beaten
1 cup COLD water (must be VERY cold this is important)
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1 cup flour

Tentsuyu (tempura dip):
1 tablespoon dashi no moto in 1 cup of water, boiled for two to three minutes (this is a fish sauce)
2 tablespoons mirin. You can replace this with 1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons sake or dry white wine
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 TBS fresh ginger root, grated


Vegetables & Fish (use any of the following):
Carrots, cut into thin sticks 1 1/2 inches long
Onions, sliced
Green pepper, cut into rings
Eggplant, thinly sliced
Broccoli, prepared as for a for salad
Green onions
Zucchini, thinly sliced
Mushrooms, halved, or whole if small
Green beans, whole
Asparagus, bite-sized (deep-fry 3 or 4 sticks together)
Butternut squash, bite-sized thin slices
Okra, halved lengthwise
Snow pea pods, whole
Cod, bite-sized (dredge in flour before dipping in batter)
Shrimp, peeled, whole. Dip shrimp in the batter by holding the tail fin, and fry two or three at a time (dredge in flour before dipping in batter)
Scallops, whole if small (dredge in flour before dipping in batter)
Crab, break shell and expose meat before dipping in batter (dredge in flour before dipping in batter)
Squid, sliced into rings or strips (dredge in flour before dipping in batter)

Directions:
Prep Note: There are a few points that you have to remember:
A. Slice the vegetables thin so they can be fried in a short time
B. You will need a deep, thick-walled pan (a wok is OK) filled about 1 inch deep with peanut oil (try other types of oil if you like, but never add lard or shortening)
C. Deep-fry in small batches so you can maintain the temperature of the oil
D. Tempura-fry vegetables at 340F and fish at 360F.

1. Prepare the batter: Using cold water (about 40F) is a must. This keeps the batter from becoming sticky. Beat the egg and mix with water. Add flour and whisk quickly just to mix it in evenly. Sticky batter results in oily tempura.

2. Prepare the Tempura Dip: After you boil the dashi, turn off the heat and add the rest of the ingredients.

3. Fry the food: Heat the oil at least 1 inch deep to 340F or 360F. Dip the vegetables or fish in the batter and place them in the hot oil. If it is difficult to handle the vegetable chunks, you may use a tablespoon to drop them in. Do not fry too much at a time, in order to maintain the temperature. Take the tempura out of the oil just when the batter gets SLIGHTLY brown. Vegetables usually take less than two to three minutes. Remember: the thinner the vegetable, the faster it cooks. For fish, the time to pull it out is when the batter turns very slightly brown. It is good idea to do trial frying in the beginning. Taste it and decide how long it will have to be fried. Once you get the timing right, the rest is simple.

4. Serve the Tempura: hot with Tentsuyu sauce and white Japanese rice if you like. This is called ten-don. Put warm rice in a bowl or on a plate and place tempura on top of the rice. Pour on two or three tablespoons of tentsuyu. Another popular way of serving tempura is over a bowl of noodles. This is called tempura-udon or tempura-soba, and it is traditional Japanese fast food.

~*~ From a Japanese web site ~*~