28 March 2011

Reader Request Monday's - Tempura

This weeks Reader Request Monday's was by Cyndi again! Yay! While I failed last week at suggesting kid friendly vegetable recipes, I would call today's dish a success. This was my first time frying up delicious tempura which is surprising given how many times I've ordered it out. While yes, this was a successful meal, I feel there is still plenty of room for improvement. My batter was quite thick. Which, on one hand, made it easy to work with, but I would have preferred it thinner. I know I could have just added in some more ice water, but I wanted to see how it was going to come out. And although thick, it wasn't too shabby.

I long after I had cleaned up, I realized I added more flour than I should have, but if you follow this recipe, you should be alright. Based on what I read about tempura, the important thing is to use ice cold ingredients. I even put everything in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Another important step is not to over beat your batter. It should remain lumpy. Although thick, after frying, my tempura coated goodies were still pleasantly fluffy! Yay!

I am often hesitant to deep fry things in my apartment. 500+ square feet with no doors terrifies me that EVERYTHING will smell like grease. It wasn't too bad, although one of these days I'll invest in an electric fryer. Nothing fancy, just one of those small fry daddy's or something similar. Just something that I can plug in outside and not worry about the smell or splatter. But then that would mean I would end up deep frying more things...my thighs say no!!!

Anyway... Almost anything will tempura well. You could do other types of fish, broccoli, sweet potatoes, or even eggplant. In addition to the dipping sauce I made, I also served it with some sweet chili sauce which was delicious, of course. This would be great with a side of rice, or accompanying some soup. Give it a whirl and let me know how it goes!

Reader Request Monday's is where you, the reader, request what meals/product reviews/anything that you would like to see here at Kacey's Kitchen! Over the week I will make one of your suggestions and will post the recipe and pictures the next Monday.

So, what would you like to see on Kacey's Kitchen? Leave a comment below!

Tempura
Printable Recipe
By Kacey's Kitchen, Slightly Adapted from Pink Bites

  • 1 onion, peeled and cut into rings
  • 1 zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch slices
  • 1 chicken breast, cut into strips
  • 1 dozen large shrimp, tails on
  • canola oil for frying
  • tempura sauce, see recipe below

Batter

  • 1 large egg, cold
  • 150ml iced water
  • 1 1/2 cups of flour, cold (leave four in the fridge to chill it)

  1. In a medium size bowl, lightly beat the egg, add the water and mix it well.

  2. Add the flour and mix it using two chopsticks. Do not over mix it, leave a few lumps of flour.

  3. If the oil is hot and the vegetables and shrimp are ready, dip each into the batter and fry until the outside is golden and looking crispy.

  4. The vegetables will first sink to the bottom of the wok (or large pot) and rapidly come to the top. Drain in a cooling rack set over a baking tray. Serve immediately with the sauce for dipping.

Tempura

  • 1 cup of water
  • 2 tbsp of soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon of mirin (sweet cooking rice wine)
  • 1/4 cup of bonito flakes

  1. Put all ingredients in a saucepan and gently simmer for about 2 minutes.
  2. Strain and discard solids. Set aside.

2 comments :

  1. How much oil do you think should go into the wok? Enough to submerge? -Cyndi

    ReplyDelete
  2. A few inches at least. You want it to to be able to cover your items. They will initially sink to the bottom and float back up. Remember, you can always add more oil and you may have to!

    ReplyDelete