Tempura Rice Bowl (TENDON)

INGREDIENTS

  • neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, canola, etc) (for deep frying; untoasted sesame oil; vegetable oil : sesame oil = 10 : 1)

TEMPURA INGREDIENTS:

  • 6 large prawn, devined
  • 1 zuchini sliced 
  • 15 slice of kabocha
  • 15 slices of sweet potato
  • 2 shiitake mushroom divided by 2 (optional)
  • 4 Shiso leaves (Ooba)

TEMPURA BATTER

  • 1 large egg (50 g w/o shell) (cold 1 large egg, 40 ml)
  • 200 ml water (iced water)
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour (plain flour) (250g)
  • 1/4 cup of soda water or 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
note : you can adjust the batter accordingly, when the constant of flour to thick add more water)

TEMPURA DIPPING SAUCE:

  • ¾ cup dashi
  • 3 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 Tbsp mirin
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 2 inch daikon radish

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INSTRUCTIONS

FOR TEMPURA SAUCE:

  • Combine dashi stock, mirin, sugar, and soy sauce in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil. Then lower the heat and let it simmer until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside.

FOR TEMPURA INGREDIENTS:

  • Clean and Devine the prawn leave the tail intact.
  • Slice Japanese sweet potato into thin pieces and soak in water for 15-30 minutes to remove excess starch. Then dry them using paper towels.
  • Cut zucchini t into thin slices.
  • Cut shiitake mushroom into 3 slices or cut into half. (you can use king oyster mushroom as well)
  • Once the ingredients are ready, heat 1 1/2" (3 cm) of the oil to (180C) in a deep fryer or pot.
 
FOR TEMPURA BATTER:
  • Sift all-purpose flour.
  • Add the egg into very cold water.
  • Whisk vigorously and discard the form on the surface.
  • add the soda water or the baking soda (choose one)
  • As you slowly pour the egg mixture into the flour, mix the batter for about 1 minute with chopsticks in a figure 8 motion. Do not over mix and leave some lumps in the batter to avoid activation of wheat gluten. Keep the batter cold all the time by adding 1-2 ice cubes in the batter or by putting the batter bowl in a larger bowl containing ice water.

FOR DEEP FRYING:

  • Start deep-frying from the prawn and set aside, then follow the root vegetables as oil temperature needs to be a bit lower . If the ingredient is wet, dry them with a paper towel before dredging in the batter. While tempura is being fried, moisture from the ingredients will be evaporated and tempura will become crispy. However, if the ingredients have extra moisture, the tempura will become soggy after being deep-fried.
  • For root vegetables, deep fry at (160°C) for 3-4 minutes. For vegetables and mushrooms, at (170-180°C) for 1-2 minutes. Do not overcrowd with ingredients. Remember you only put ingredients taking up about 1/2 of oil surface area. When you put too many ingredients, the oil temperature will drop quickly. Make sure to keep the right temperature all the time. For shiso leaves, sprinkle a bit of sifted flour on the back of leaves and dip only the back of leaf into the batter and deep fry for 15 seconds. For ingredients that are hard to keep the batter on, such as Shrimp Tempura, Kakiage, or shiso, we dust extra flour before dredging the ingredient in the batter. Flour works as a glue and the batter tends to stay on the ingredients.
  • Transfer tempura to a wired rack or paper towel to remove excess oil.
  • Between batches, Between batches, remove the crumbs which will burn and turn the oil darker if left in fryer.