To make a good tempura you must use icy water and, another trick I picked up from my mother, add a little Japanese mayonnaise to the batter — this makes the consistency delightfully crisp.
Tempura batter
1 | Egg |
1 pinch | Salt |
1 Tbsp | Japanese mayonnaise |
1 cup | Water, ice cold |
1 cup | Flour |
Dipping sauce
1 cup | Water |
75 ml | Soy sauce |
75 ml | Mirin |
½ Tbsp | Sugar |
¼ tsp | Dashi, powder |
Ingredients
1 bottle | Oil, for deep frying |
8 | Prawns, banana, deveined and cleaned (Main) |
4 | Baby carrots |
1 | Capsicum, cut into 8 pieces |
2 stalks | Celery, each cut into 4 pieces |
1 | Courgette, cut into 8 diagonal slices |
1 sprinkle | Flour, to dust vegetables |
½ | Red onions, cut into 2 pieces |
½ | Nori sheets, cut into quarters |
Directions
- To make dipping sauce mix water, soy sauce, mirin, sugar and dashi powder in a small saucepan and boil for 2 minutes.
- Reduce the heat and simmer a further 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- To make tempura batter, beat the egg, salt and mayonnaise in a bowl, then add ice-cold water.
- Add half of the flour and mix well. Add the rest of the flour and mix only a couple of times. The key is not to overmix — some flour left on top of the batter is good.
- Heat oil in a wok or deep fryer to 180C.
- Dust prawns, vegetables and nori with flour and dip lightly into the tempura batter, deep fry until crispy.
- Remove tempura and place on a paper towel to drain excess oil. Serve immediately with dipping sauce.
Tip: Prepare everything in advance, deep fry the tempura at the very end, and eat it as soon as you can!