Here's a recipe that you could call, with just a little stretch of the imagination, "Japanese fish and Chips". You get a fillet of cod fried in tempura batter served on a bed of the staple Japanese food - steamed rice.
Of course, it wouldn't be a Japanese meal without some vegetables and here you get slices of sweet potato, carrot and rocket - these were my choices from the larder - you could use other combinations that take your fancy. No salt' n 'vinegar flavourings here though - tendon dishes are served with a tendon sauce - a combination of soy sauce and mirin. All in all, this makes a great one-dish recipe for lunch or dinner.
You can make your own tempura flour or you can buy a ready made - I used showa brand tempura flour which is a mix of wheat flour, egg yolk powder, pumpkin powder and baking powder - it gives a nice, light result. Rather than coating everything in tempura batter first, this is a recipe where you coat each item separately with batter and deep fry, then coat the next item. The sweet potato takes the longest time - 2-3 mins - you can test whether the slices are done with a chopstick or skewer - the carrot matchsticks and the rocket are formed into little bundles in the batter and then plunged into the oil to stick them together - they take no time at all. I fried the cod fillets for about 2 - 3 mins and kept an eye on the colour to make sure the batter didn't overcook.
The rest is simple - arrange the tempura on a bowl of fresh rice and drizzle over the ten-don sauce - and you have a tasty, satisfying main meal to serve.
If you are ready for a tendon fish dish, you can find the written recipe just below and the Youtube tutorial by clicking Cod Fillet Tendon or scroll to the bottom of the page.
Happy cooking! Kurumi XXXX.
If you would prefer something a little more traditional, then you could take a look at my Prawn Tendon dish. You can go to that the recipe by clicking Prawn Tendon.
Cod Fillet Tendon
ingredients:
(makes 2 servings)
for the tendon sauce:
2 tbsp sugar
2.5 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin
1/4 tsp japanese dashi granules
40 ml water
400-450g cooked rice
for cod tendon:
60g carrot
220g cod fillet
4 slices of sweet potato (about 5mm thick)
a handful of rocket, rinsed
150ml tempura flour
220ml water
vegetable for deep frying
some kitchen paper
how to:
to make the sauce for tendon, put all the ingredients in a pan, bring to the boil while stirring & simmer for 1-2 mins or until the sauce becomes slightly thick
to make the tendon, peel and thinly slice the carrot into matchsticks
cut the cod fillet in half lengthways
mix the tempura flour and water into a batter
fill a pan with 2 - 2.5cm of veg oil & heat to 170’c
dip the sweet potato slices into the batter
deep fry until golden in colour. check that the potato is cooked using a chopstick or skewer
put the carrot into the batter, then take up a small bundle & deep fry in the oil until golden in colour
put the rocket into the batter, then take up a small bundle and deep fry in the oil for just a few seconds
dip the cod fillets into the batter, fry until golden in colour
assemble the tempura by dividing the rice between 2 serving bowls. arrange the tendon over the rice and last, sprinkle over the tendon sauce before serving
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