Name: Vegetable Tempura
Yield: Serves 6–8
Cuisine: Japan
Ingredients: 600 ml (1 pint) oil, preferably groundnut, for deep-frying; 3 tablespoons sake, rice wine or dry sherry; 100 g (4 oz) small whole button mushrooms; 1 small onion; 50 g (2 oz) Chinese long beans, runner beans or French beans, trimmed; 100 g (4 oz) cauliflower; 100 g (4 oz) courgettes; 100 g (4 oz) carrots; 100 g (4 oz) plain flour, sifted; 100 g (4 oz) aubergines; ½ teaspoon baking powder; 1 egg, beaten; 150 ml (5 fl oz) very cold water; 50 ml (2 fl oz) vegetable stock; 1 tablespoon sugar; 2 tablespoons light soy sauce

Preparation info

Serves
6–8

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Ken Hom's Vegetarian Cookery

By Ken Hom

Published 1995

About

Of all deep-fried foods, I prefer Japanese tempura. The delicate coating of batter allows the fresh vegetable flavours to come through; there is crispness without the heaviness generally associated with batter-fried foods. The secret of tempura’s lace-like quality lies in the use of a thin batter made with very cold or iced water and not mixed together until the very last moment. Although tempura is commonly used with seafood such as prawns, it works as deliciously with vegetables. C