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Japanese Tempura Vegetables

Recipe

Ingredients

  • 100g (approx) each of a mix of firm vegetables cut into bite-size pieces, such as aubergine, broccoli, courgette, mushrooms, red pepper and sweet potatoes
  • Batter –
  • 3oz plain flour
  • 1 tbsp cornflour
  • ½ tsp fine sea salt
  • 200ml ice cold sparkling mineral water
  • A few ice cubes.
  • groundnut or sunflower oil for deep frying

For the sauce

  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • 3 tbsp dry sherry
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 lemon zest only

Method

  1. Heat oven to 150C/fan 130C/gas 2.
  2. Mix together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
  3. Make the batter just as you are about to cook.
  4. Sift plain flour, cornflour and sea salt into a large mixing bowl.
  5. Whisk in the mineral water along with a few ice cubes using a whisk, but don’t over beat. It doesn’t matter about a few lumps.
  6. Use immediately.
  7. Cover a baking tray with sheets of kitchen paper.
  8. Start to heat a deep-fat frying pan or large wok a third full of oil and have the frying basket, or slotted spoon to hand
  9. When the oil reaches 190C dip some of the prepared veg briefly into the batter, shake off any excess, then lower straight into the hot oil.
  10. Don’t crowd the frying basket.
  11. Fry for about 2 mins until light golden and crisp, then drain on kitchen paper.
  12. Repeat with the remaining vegetables in batches, dipping into the batter just before you fry them and remember to let the oil heat back up to temperature between each batch.
  13. Keep the tempura warm in the oven, leaving the door slightly ajar so that they stay crisp.
  14. They are best served immediately on a warm plate with the sauce alongside for dipping.