About the Recipe
If you were playing a word association game and mentioned "tempura", most if not all people would respond with the word, "Japan". Japan and tempura are now inextricably linked and tempura is one of the country's national foods. But tempura originated in Portugal and was brought to Japan by the Portugese in the 17th Century by Portugese traders who settled on Japan's southern island, Kyushu. I like to think the Japanese have improved the dish though - but I'll let you be the judge of that!
Ingredients
1/2 medium sweet potato
1/3 medium butternut pumpkin
8 baby corn
8 uncooked king prawns (frozen or fresh)
4 shiitake mushrooms
1/3 lotus root (optional)
1 red and 1 yellow bell pepper (deseeded)
32 green beans
150g self-raising flour
100g corn flour
1 egg, beaten
240 ml water
some veg oil
kitchen paper cling film
extra self raising or plain flour for coating the prawns
Preparation
rinse all the vegetables
thinly slice (5mm) the sweet potato and butternut pumpkin
peel and thinly slice (5mm) the lotus root
cut off the stalks from shiitake mushrooms
trim off the heads and tails of the green beans
cut the bell peppers into 6 slices each (you only need 4 slices each for the dish)
peel the skin of the prawns and devein, but leave the tail on. then using a sharp knife, cut 3-4 small incisions across the inside of each prawn - this will stop them curling when you deep fry them
now to make your tempura batter:
put the self-raising flour and corn flour in a bowl and mix together lightly
add the beaten egg and water, and mix well
microwave the sweet potatoes and the pumpkins in a deep plate or bowl covered with clingfilm for 2 mins on a high setting
now to deep fry:
fill a medium saucepan 1/3 full with veg oil and heat to 160-170C / 320 - 340 F (you can test whether the oil is hot enough by dropping a little piece of batter into the pan - if the batter bubbles and floats to the surface, the oil is ready
dip the vegetables into the batter and deep fry for a couple of mins, turning them around from time to time. when the vegetables float in the oil and the batter is a golden brown colour, take them out and drain on kitchen paper. repeat this process until you have used all the vegetables
for the prawns, dust them with flour, then dip them into the batter. deep fry for a few minutes until light golden brown
your tempura is now ready. serve with a tempura dipping sauce and white rice.