I am the worst cook!! (nearly!) Does anyone out there have a painless recipe (or recipes) for tasty tempura they'd like to share?
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Re: Tempura
Thu, September 16, 2004 - 10:17 AMI think its basic frying. My grandmother told me the key is to keep everything cold. So after preparing, she puts everything in the fridge for 20 minutes or so.
Sorry if my recipe is kind of vague...I'm use to just doing it and I don't have anything written down.
*Cut Veggies no more than a 1/4 inch thick. We actually do very small slices then bunch a group together to fry
*1 egg mixed with a little cold water and flour. Give up the urge to make it smooth, you want it a little lumpy
Dip your veggies in the egg mixture then roll them around in the tempura bread crumbs. (Sorry, can't think of the name but you can buy it as Safeway...it's in the Tempura box)
Make sure your Oil is SUPER hot! To test you can put a drop of your egg mixture into the oil. It should start to bubble and cook right away.
Place veggies into the oil...Don't try to fit everything into the pan at once. My pan is a medium size so I put about 8 pieces in together. Once in the oil, I only touch the vegetables twice; once to flip them, and lastly to pull them out.
Place on a paper towel to catch excess oil.
Grandmother says where I usually mess up is that after one batch, I throw a second on right away. I should let the oil heat up again.
For the dipping sauce...I'm not sure what the actual recipe is but I usually just mix the following to taste:
Shoyu
water
mirin
sugar
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Re: Tempura
Thu, September 16, 2004 - 6:26 PMputting it in the fridge is supposed to make it crispier.
same theory with tonkatsu. -
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Re: Tempura
Thu, September 16, 2004 - 10:35 PMJay, did you mean putting it in the fridge while it's still hot?
Oh and thanks for the tips/recipe Niki! I'm going to try this very soon. Hopefully I won't get annihilated by the hot oil. ;) -
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Re: Tempura
Fri, September 17, 2004 - 12:20 AMI'm sure she meant before you cook it. In fact, I usually keep my batter in the freezer when I'm not dipping something in it. The cold REALLY does make a difference.
If you are inexperienced (as you say you are) you should just go with the store-bought Tenpura batter and 'Tsuyu no moto' or 'soup base' in English instead of making your own dipping sauce. -
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Re: Tempura
Fri, September 17, 2004 - 4:16 PMI will likely to get the taste right, but I think I'm getting too old to not know how to cook. I'll end up starving to death if I don't learn how to de-instant-food myself. -
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Unsu...
Panko bread crumbs
Sat, September 18, 2004 - 1:51 PMI think maybe you were referring to these, Safeway may even carry them:
www.asianfoodgrocer.com/index.asp
(p.s. not recommending this website, only pointing out the product) -
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Re: Panko bread crumbs
Sat, September 18, 2004 - 1:56 PMNevertheless, it's a cool site! -
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Re: Panko bread crumbs
Sun, September 19, 2004 - 8:48 PMif you want to try something simple and painless
you take white flour and mix with water to the point of still being a bit pasty.
add ice cubes and as this melts, the batter will become cold and of an easier consistency to work with.
oil should be heated to frying temp and then dip whatever you're frying into the ice cube batter and fry.
I haven't tried refrigerating the batter in lieu of ice cubes but I can't imagine it being any different.
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Re: Panko bread crumbs
Mon, March 24, 2008 - 9:45 AMI use a tempura batter and then roll in panko. So frickkun good. Mmmmm, onion rings dipped in red pepper mayo :)
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Re: Tempura
Mon, March 24, 2008 - 10:37 AMit is all about having the right temperatures!
the batter must be ice cold. Use ice water and keep ice cubes in it to keep it chilled. The vegetables should also be cold. And just as important, the oil must be the right temperature (385 F). If the oil is colder your food will be dripping with oil and your liver will freak out after you eat it. If it is too hot, the outside will burn while the inside will be raw.
Deep frying is probably the hardest cooking technique to really do correctly.
for a dipping sauce, stock (never use water for any kind of sauce!), mirin, and shoyu. For stock i make it from kombu and shitake
enjoy!
phil
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Re: Tempura
Thu, April 17, 2008 - 5:54 AMTempura is never painless, but often worth the suffering.