Tempura

Prepare the ingredients; sweet potatoes, shrimp, eggplant, Kabocha (Japanese pumpkin), green beams, zucchini, mushrooms, etc.
Make tempura batter (see recipe below).
Heat vegetable oil in a deep pan to 340-350ºF*.
Lightly dip ingredients in the batter and immediately fry them until crisp. It takes longer to fry vegetables than seafood.
Drain tempura on a rack.
Serve right away with tensuyu (tempura dipping sauce).

Tempura Batter:
1 egg beaton and ice cold water to make 1 cup
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch

Beat the egg in a bowl. Add ice water. Add premixed flour and cornstarch in the bowl and mix lightly. Be careful not to overmix the batter. Makes 4 servings.

Tempura Dipping Sauce:
Buy "Tsuyu" (all-purpose seasoning soup) and add water.

OR
1 cup dashi soup stock
1/4 cup mirin
1/4 cup soy sauce
put everything in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.

*to check the temperature of frying oil, drop a little batter into the oil. If the batter comes up right away instead of sinking to the bottom of the pan, it's about 360ºF. If the batter goes halfway to the bottom and comes up, it's about 340ºF.

Submitted by Akiko Takara