Shrimp Tempura
Crispy Japanese shrimp and vegetable tempura fried in a light, lacy cake flour batter. Served with a homemade tentsuyu dipping sauce with grated daikon, this is the real deal from scratch.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
30 minREADY
40 minForget the heavy, greasy tempura you get at the all-you-can-eat buffet. The real thing is light, shatteringly crisp, and almost see-through.
The secret is cake flour, ice-cold water, and a batter you deliberately undermix. Those little lumps? They’re supposed to be there. They create the lacy, craggy coating that shatters when you bite through it.
Shrimp, mushrooms, eggplant, sweet potato, carrots, and green beans all get the same treatment: a dusting of flour, a dip in chilled batter, and a quick swim in hot oil. Serve them with a warm soy-mirin dipping sauce and a mound of grated daikon radish.
Chef Tips
- Keep the batter ice cold at all times. Warm batter activates the gluten in the flour and makes the coating tough instead of crisp.
- Mix the batter just until combined. Lumps are your friend. Smooth batter means chewy tempura.
- Flatten the shrimp with the flat side of a knife before battering. This prevents them from curling into little hooks while frying.
- Fry in small batches. Crowding the oil drops the temperature and steams the batter instead of crisping it.
- Dollop a little extra batter on top of each shrimp while it bobs in the oil. This creates those gorgeous, wispy tendrils of crispy batter.
Ingredients
Directions
Mix cake flour with eggs and ice water until batter is slightly lumpy.
Chill.
To make sauce, combine soy sauce, mirin, water and MSG in saucepan and bring to boil.
Place small amount of sauce in tiny saucers with 1 teaspoon of grated radish on each.
Set aside.
To prepare tempura, shell and devein shrimp, leaving tail, intact.
Flatten slightly with sturdy whack of cleaver or flat side of heavy knife so shrimp will not curl while cooking.
Arrange shrimp, mushrooms, eggplant, celery, carrots, sweet potatoes and green beans attractively on large tray or platter.
Heat oil in deep kettle to 350℉ (180℃). Beat batter. Dip shrimp into all-purpose flour, then into chilled batter, shaking to remove excess batter. Slip into deep fat and fry until shrimp rise to surface. While shrimp are bobbing on surface of oil, dollop a bit more batter on top of each shrimp and cook until batter is crisp and slightly golden. Turn once and remove with slotted spoon or fork and drain on wire rack. Keep hot. Dip vegetables in flour and batter and cook in same manner. Continue to cook and drain shrimp and vegetables, a few at a time, adjusting heat during cooking to maintain 350℉ (180℃) temperature. Keep batter cool. To serve, place equal amount of various foods on each plate. Dip cooked vegetables and shrimp into sauce, scooping up a bit of radish.
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