What is Tempura?
Tempura is a dish made from seafood, meat or vegetables that have been dipped in batter and deep fried. The dish was inspired by fritter-cooking that was introduced in the 16th century by Portuguese merchants. The batter is made from ice water, flour, eggs, baking soda and starch. The vegetables and seafood are thinly sliced and dipped in the batter before being deep fried in vegetable or canola oil. It’s normally eaten with either a tentsuyu (dashi, mirin and shoyu mixture) dipping sauce or salt.
History of Tempura
Tempura has an interesting and unique history. In 1543, a ship with three Portuguese sailors landed in Japan. The ship was originally destined for Macau, but was blown off course. These three Portuguese men were the first Europeans to set foot on Japanese lands. This opened up a new era of trade with the Portuguese and allowed Japan to obtain things like guns for the first time.
While the Portuguese were docked in Japan they prepared food from their homeland. One particular dish called, peixinhos da horta, was made from green beans that were dipped in batter and fried. Peixinhos da horta was commonly eaten during Lent (a religious observance practiced by many Christian denominations). Meat was banned during Lent and the fried dish made a good substitute during this abstainment. Because of the dish being common during Lent, it is believed that the name “tempura” comes from a misinterpretation of the Latin saying “ad tempora cuaresma”, meaning “in this time of Lent”.
At this point in history, Japan didn’t really have any dishes that used frying techniques. While China did have fried foods that the Japanese would have been exposed to, they hadn’t been widely adopted. Once peixinhos da horta was introduced, frying food really caught on. Thus, tempura was born in Japan.
How to make Tempura?
Making tempura is very simple. Essentially it comes down to making the batter, then frying. To make the simplest tempura batter you’ll need just three ingredients: eggs, flour and cold water. There are some optional tweaks you can do to make an even better batter. Once you have your batter, you’ll need pick your oil. Many restaurants use a blend of different oils that they have perfected over the years, but for simplicity’s sake, vegetable oil will work just fine.
Ingredients for Batter:
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup of all purpose flour
- ¾ cup of cold water
- ½ cup of cornstarch
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
Directions:
- Fill a large pot roughly half full of vegetable oil and heat until it reaches 375°F
- Combine flour and corn starch then whisk. In another bowl, whisk egg and cold water together and then add to dry ingredients. Whisk everything together for less than a minute. You want some lumps, so don’t over mix!
- Add in your chopped vegetables and coat in batter.
- Add batter-covered vegetables to heated oil, about three pieces at a time. Let the batter drip off slightly before putting in oil.
- Fry for 1 to 2 minutes, making sure to turn often. Remove from oil onto to paper towels. Season with kosher salt right away.
- Enjoy!
