Video:How to Make Vegetable Tempura

SHARE ON                

Transcript:How to Make Vegetable Tempura

Hi, I'm Heidi Dehncke-Fisher and welcome to About.com.

When I fell in love with Japanese cuisine it was initially with sushi, but then I discovered tempura and fell in love all over again.

Tempura was introduced to Japan in the 1600s by the Portuguese and is now a staple whether served as an appetizer, a main, or as part of a BENTO or lunch box.

Tempura Ingredients

To make this version of vegetable tempura you will need:

• 1½ -2 pounds of chopped vegetables. I will be using broccoli, eggplant, carrots, and cauliflower
• 1 cup flour
• 1 egg
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup icy cold water
• enough vegetable oil to immerse vegetables
• 2 cups panko

Tempura Method

Traditionally, a flour based batter is created using egg, flour, and extremely cold water. Most recipes recommend mixing the batter with chopsticks briefly so the signature tempura batter lumps remain and the consistency is what tempura aficionados have come to know and love.

Mix Tempura Ingredients

So mix your egg and ice cold water in a large bowl…and then sift your flour into this. Stir briefly with chopsticks. Remember the lumps are part of the dish.

Add Oil to Pot

For a deep fried dish tempura is pretty light. You want to pour enough oil into the bottom of a large sauce or stock pot to ensure the vegetables will be covered while frying.

Heat Oil

To make sure the temperature is hot enough to fry, drop some batter into the oil, if it sinks halfway to the bottom and rises back up the oil is ready to cook the vegetables. Setsuko Yoshizuka, About.com's Japanese cuisine expert, not only recommends this, she also says the correct temperature for frying the vegetables is 340 degrees Fahrenheit.

Flour and Fry Tempura Vegetables

Take your vegetables and dredge them lightly through the flour batter and then roll them in the Panko. Now begin cooking your vegetables in the hot oil. Approximately 2 minutes total - ensuring all the pieces reach a golden brown color.

Let the finished vegetables drain for a few minutes on a plate lined with paper towels.

Make Dipping Sauce

Dipping sauces vary from more simple and direct… combining saki, soy sauce and sugar, to more complex….to ones that include mirin - a Japanese sweet wine.

Vegetable tempura is best eaten as soon as it's made and if you cover it, it gets mushy.

This vegetable tempura looks fantastic.

Thanks for watching to learn more visit us on the Web at About.com.