Name: Vegetarian Tempura (Shojin-agé)
Yield: Serves four
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 15 cm/6 in renkon; ½ sweet potato; 15 ml/1 tbsp lemon juice or rice vinegar; vegetable oil and sesame oil, for frying (see Cook’s Tips); ½ aubergine (eggplant); 400 ml/14 fl oz/1⅔ cups second dashi stock, or the same amount of water with 10 ml/2 tsp dashi-no-moto; 100 ml/3 fl oz/scant ½ cup shoyu; 100 ml/3 fl oz/scant ½ cup mirin; 4 okra, trimmed; 4 fresh shiitake mushrooms; 200 ml/7 fl oz/scant 1 cup ice-cold water; 1 onion, sliced into 5mm/¼in rings; 1 green (bell) pepper, seeded and cut lengthways into 2.5cm/1in wide strips; 4 shiso leaves; 4 green beans, trimmed; ⅛ kabocha squash, cut into 5mm/¼in thick half-ring shapes; 4 cm/1½ in piece fresh root ginger; 450 g/1 lb daikon; 1 large (US extra large) egg, beaten; 2-3 ice cubes; 90 g/3½ oz/generous ¾ cup sifted plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting

Preparation info

Serves
four

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Japanese Cookbook

By Emi Kazuko and Yasuko Fukuoka

Published 2024

About

In the hot and humid Japanese summer, Zen monks eat deep-fried vegetables, Shojin-agé, to get over the fatigue of hard training. Although tempura preparation needs a little effort, take your time and enjoy the process as an artistic activity, like the monks do.

Ingredients

15 ml/1 tbsp lemon juice or rice vinegar
15 cm/6

Method

To make the dipping sauce, mix all the ingredients in a pan. Bring to the boil, then remove from the heat. Set aside.
Fill a small bowl with cold water and add the lemon juice or rice vinegar. Peel the renkon, then slice it and the sweet pota

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Ingredients

Method

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