Vegetable and Prawn Tempura

Ingredients

• 12 large raw king prawns, peeled (tails on)
• 1 sweet potato, cut into 1cm slices
• 1 courgette, sliced into batons
• 8 asparagus spears, trimmed
• 4 shiitake mushrooms (or button mushrooms)
• Vegetable oil, for frying (about 500ml)
• Salt

For the batter:

• 100g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1 egg yolk
• 180ml ice-cold water (or sparkling water)
• Pinch of salt

For the tentsuyu dipping sauce:

• 100ml dashi (or chicken stock)
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• Grated daikon (optional)

Method

1. Prep all the vegetables and pat them very dry with kitchen paper. Wet veg = soggy batter that falls off.
2. Make the dipping sauce. Combine dashi, mirin, soy and sugar in a small saucepan. Heat until sugar dissolves. Cool.
3. Heat oil to 170°C in a deep pan or wok. You want about 3cm depth.
4. Make batter just before frying. Mix flour, egg yolk and ice water with chopsticks — JUST combined, lumpy is good. Don’t overmix or you’ll get gluten development and a heavy batter.
5. Dust each piece of veg/prawn lightly in flour — this helps batter stick.
6. Dip in batter and lower into the oil. Don’t crowd the pan — 3-4 pieces at a time.
7. Fry 2-3 minutes until pale golden and crisp. Flip once.
8. Drain on kitchen paper, sprinkle with salt immediately.
9. Serve hot with the dipping sauce on the side.

Tips

• Ice cold water is the secret — it minimises gluten development and keeps the batter light and lacy.
• Lumpy batter is correct — don’t whisk smooth. Bits of flour = crispy bits in the fryer.
• Pat everything dry — wet veg makes the batter slide off. Flour dust first, then batter.
• Use a thermometer if you can — 170°C is the sweet spot. Below = greasy, above = burnt.
• No dashi? Chicken stock + a strip of kombu (or ½ tsp of dashi powder) approximates well.
• Eat immediately — tempura doesn’t reheat well. It’s at its best within minutes of frying.