Vegetarian Tempura

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

Shojin-agé

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

Asia
Japan
Side dish
Fish course
Starter
Pescatarian
Summer

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