Recipe

Tempura (mixed)

4 servings · prep 30 min · cook 20 min

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• lunch
• dinner
• japanese

Authored by the maintainer; standard Tokyo home method, mixed shrimp and vegetables.

Ingredients

the protein

• 12 large prawns, peeled with tails on, deveined, sliced underside (so they don't curl)

the vegetables

• 1 small sweet potato, peeled and sliced 5 mm thick
• 200 g kabocha squash, seeded, sliced 5 mm thick
• 8 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed
• 1 small Japanese eggplant, halved lengthwise, scored
• 8 large shiso leaves

the batter

• 200 g tempura flour (or 150 g cake flour + 50 g cornstarch) — Puglia wheat farm
• 300 ml ice water (with ice cubes in the measuring jug)
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

the fry

• 1.5 L neutral oil (or 50/50 with sesame oil for fragrance)

the tentsuyu

• 300 ml dashi
• 60 ml soy sauce — Yuasa shoyu brewery
• 60 ml mirin

the serve

• 100 g grated daikon, drained
• 1 tbsp grated ginger

Method

1. Make the tentsuyu first. Combine dashi, soy, and mirin in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer for 30 seconds; pull off. Divide between four small bowls. Let cool.
2. Heat the oil in a deep heavy pot to 180°C / 350°F. Use a thermometer; tempura is unforgiving on temperature.
3. Mix the batter at the last possible moment. Whisk the egg into the ice water in a bowl. Sift the flour over the top. Stir with chopsticks just until barely combined — the batter should be lumpy with dry pockets still visible. Over-mixing develops gluten and ruins the crisp.
4. Pat the shrimp and vegetables completely dry. Dust lightly with extra flour.
5. Dip vegetables in the batter one piece at a time. Lower gently into the oil. Don't crowd — 4–5 pieces at a time. Fry 2 minutes for thin vegetables (sweet potato slices, mushrooms), 3 minutes for thicker (squash, eggplant). · 3 min
6. Shiso leaves get batter only on the underside (the smooth side stays bare). Fry 60 seconds. · 1 min
7. Shrimp last. Dip in batter, fry 2 minutes until the batter is barely tinted gold and the shrimp pink-curled. · 2 min
8. Drain on a rack — never on paper towels, which trap steam and soften the crust.
9. Serve immediately on a folded paper square (kaishi) over a wooden board. The dipping bowls of tentsuyu with grated daikon and ginger stirred in, alongside.

Notes

Tempura is a 16th-century Portuguese import. Iberian missionaries
brought the batter-frying technique (originally for *peixinhos da
horta*, battered green beans, eaten during *Quatuor Tempora* lent
days — hence the name *tempura*). Japan kept the technique and
perfected it; the Portuguese moved on.

The single most important variable: oil temperature. Drops below
170°C produce greasy tempura; above 195°C burn the batter before the
vegetables cook. A clip-on thermometer is essential.