Tempura is the way to batter in Japanese cuisine. Do not miss this raw tempura recipe that our chef has prepared. Japan has a deep-rooted vegetarian history thanks to Buddhist influence. Emperor Temmu banned the consumption of meat from wild animals in 675. For twelve centuries, the diet of the Japanese consisted basically of legumes and vegetables.
The ancient Japanese were very long-lived in this period, although that began to change with the rise to the throne of Emperor Meiji, who canceled the old ban on meat consumption in the second half of the 19th century.
Raw Tempura Recipe
This culture deserves excellent recognition, and we pay tribute to it with this raw recipe inspired by its original ingredients and recipes. As the diners in Japan say: Itadakimasu! to show gratitude to the people who have prepared the food.
INGREDIENTS FOR 2 PEOPLE
Vegetables, the ones you prefer and quantity to taste. I have used zucchini, green beans, eggplant and asparagus but you can also use peppers, onions or chives, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, squash, mushrooms, mushrooms …
For the tempura dough (with this amount you will have to batter twice or more vegetables than the ones I cooked and that you can see in a photograph below):
- 250 ml of very cold water.
- 1 egg.
- 160 gr of wheat flour.
- A pinch of salt.
- Olive oil and salt
For the sauce:
- 4 tablespoons tamari
- Some grated ginger
- ½ lemon juice
Preparation for the raw tempura
Let’s prepare the vegetables. Wash all the vegetables with cold water, let them drain and dry them thoroughly.
Cut the zucchini and eggplant into sticks of a similar thickness. The important thing is that what you are going to fry in each batch is about the same size. All the pieces will cook at the same time.
Cut the ends of the green beans, discard them and split them into 3 parts. Cut the thickest and hardest part of the stem of each asparagus and divide them into two parts.
Vegetables for tempura
Prepare the tempura dough. What I usually do is measure the amount of water needed and put it in the glass jar for about 15 minutes, so it is very cold but not frozen. You can also use water mixed with ice cubes.
Put the water in a bowl, add the egg and beat with some rods. Add the flour and a little salt and stir well with some rods until the mixture is homogeneous and there are no lumps. What I usually do is keep this bowl in the freezer while I am not using it. I wait to prepare the oil for frying and even between each batch. So, it does not get hot.
For frying, I used a casserole and cooked each type of vegetable in a batch because the size of the pan allowed all the vegetables to be on the surface without sticking to each other. You must ensure that the quantities are not very large. So, the oil does not fall in temperature and the vegetables are not in contact with each other.
Put your first batch of vegetables in the bowl with the tempura dough and stir them well so that they are battered. I usually use some chopsticks for this whole process because I find them very comfortable, but you can also use some kitchen tongs. To put them in the oil, take out each piece of vegetables, leaving it held for a moment to drain the excess dough and then pour it into the oil.
Fry the vegetables in a fryer or a pan or saucepan:
In a saucepan or deep pan: add plenty of oil. Put the fire on high and when the oil is very hot (without getting to smoke) go adding the first batch of vegetables. Fry them for approximately 3 to 4 minutes, trying to make them on both sides and always in small batches. They will be ready when they begin to brown although this batter should not take much color, as you can see in the photographs. If you have a cooking thermometer, you can measure the oil temperature and start frying when it reaches 170ºC.
In a fryer, add oil to the fryer’s signal and set it to warm to 170 ° C. When you have reached that temperature goes throwing the vegetables one by one to the basket, also in small batches and fry them on both sides. Go watching them and even taking out the basket to see how they are going and especially remember to turn them around, it will take between 3 and 4 minutes.
How vegetable tempura is made?
Just take them out (ideally with a drainer or if you use a fryer with the basket) go putting them on a large plate with kitchen paper so that it absorbs the excess oil and they are very crispy and pour a little salt over them. Also, remove the small remnants of fried dough that may be generated from the oil.
Mix the tamari, ginger, and lemon juice to make the sauce and serve it to tase the delicious raw tempura recipe.
