[Tempura] with a crispy and light texture

Overview

Every time we go to a Japanese restaurant, our family loves the tempura very much. The princess likes the shrimp tempura, the husband likes the squid tempura, and I like the vegetable tempura. However, the exquisite small plate of Japanese food, with its crispy and tender texture and the fragrance of soy sauce and radish puree, is often eaten after a few times, and it is really not enjoyable to eat. I have been thinking about making it at home, and I looked up a bunch of tempura recipes. It is really diverse and has many types. The specific types include vegetable tempura, seafood tempura, and assorted tempura. The key point is that tempura is not simply fried ingredients. Tempura is the most technical among Japanese dishes. Good tempura is definitely not just fried. Fried tempura should never feel greasy, but should feel light and not high in calories. In order to highlight the original flavor of the raw materials, a very thin paste is usually prepared when tempura is battered. Especially for tempura made with green leafy vegetables, the wrapped raw materials can still be seen. Sometimes there is paste on one side of the vegetable leaves, but there is almost no paste on the other side. For tempura made with fish or prawns, although the raw materials are surrounded by paste, it is only a very thin layer. This thin layer of dough is quickly formed in hot oil, wrapping the ingredients in the dough. The moisture in the ingredients evaporates and is wrapped in the dough, and the food is steamed in the dough. Therefore, tempura uses the principle of water-oil insolubility to dehydrate food and remove excess water from the ingredients, making the ingredients richer in flavor and crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. This is also a major feature of tempura. But how can you make top-quality [tempura] at home that is as crispy and light as a feather in high-end Japanese food? First, whether vegetables or seafood, the ingredients must be fresh. Second, you need to prepare all the vegetables before you start making the batter. The batter must be freshly made and used. Third, when preparing the batter, adding soda water, soju, and ice cubes can improve the crispness of the dough. If you don't like to add ice cubes, you can put a basin of ice water under the container of the dough. Fourth, it’s best to buy Japan’s top-quality tempura fried powder. If not, you must use low-tempura flour so that the fried dough will be thin and crispy. Fifth, authentic high-end tempura restaurants use sesame oil to fry tempura, or use sesame oil mixed with other oils for frying. It turns out that one factor in using sesame oil is that sesame oil has a low boiling point, and the optimal temperature for tempura is 180 degrees, so it is easier to control the oil temperature with sesame oil. This can be adjusted according to your own situation. Sixth, be sure to use a deep pot that can withstand hot oil above 160 degrees so that oil will not splash when frying.

Tags

• hot dishes
• old man
• japanese food
• autumn recipes
• lunch
• famous dishes
• cake flour
• egg
• ice cubes
• vodka
• soda water

Ingredients

Steps

1. 1 Wash, peel and cut the lotus root into thin slices about 3mm thick. Cut small triangles along the stomata first, then trim the edges. The lotus root slices will take on the shape of a flower. (Use ingredients according to preference: 150g lotus root, 80g pepper, 40g mushroom, 40g celery leaves, 150g eggplant, 400g shrimp)

   

2. 2 Wash the shrimps, remove the heads and shells, leaving only a small part of the tail shell, remove the shrimp intestines, and cut 3 or 4 knives on the abdomen of the shrimps with a knife. Do not cut, but press lightly with a knife.

   

3. 3 Wash the eggplant and pepper and slice into small pieces respectively.

   

4. 4 Wash the celery leaves, cut into pieces the mushrooms, and prepare all the vegetables.

   

5. 5 Beat the eggs, pour in refrigerated soda water, add vodka, mix well, pour in cake flour and mix into batter.

   

6. 6 Add ice cubes and the batter is ready. Take two other bowls to fill with appropriate amounts of dry powder, and coat the shrimps in the dry powder.

   

7. 7 Coat the vegetables with dry powder and heat oil in the pot.

   

8. 8 Coat the ingredients with dry powder and put them into the batter, dip them in the batter, and fry them in hot oil until the surface is golden brown. Mashed radish is a standard dish, which is both delicious and soothing. (Dipping ingredients: daikon, ginger, soy sauce, mirin)