Your Guide to Cooking With Tempura Flour
When you think of deep fried food, you probably picture thick cut potato chips or spicy chicken wings. Although we commonly associate deep-frying with Western style fast food, many cultures around the world use this method of cooking, including the Japanese.
Tempura is a very popular traditional Japanese meal that has quickly spread around the world. While you can go to a Japanese restaurant to enjoy this dish, tempura flour makes it easy to create delicious deep-fried vegetables and seafood at home. Read on to find out how!
What is tempura flour?
To understand what tempura flour is, we first have to dive into the world of Japanese cuisine.
As is the case with all national cuisines, Japanese food varies dramatically depending on what part of the country you are in. What ties all dishes together is a focus on fresh, seasonal ingredients, refined flavours, and visual beauty.
Traditionally, a Japanese meal will consist of a main staple food — such as rice — served with a variety of side dishes. Such plates can include soup, some sort of protein (often fish), fresh and pickled vegetables, and a serving sauce.
Japanese food tends not to use large amounts of fat or oil; it tends to be quite light and delicate in flavour. The type of condiments and spices that dominate recipes, including soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, and wasabi — do, however, tend to be quite high in salt.
Japanese cuisine is often associated with a number of distinct, well-recognised dishes. These include sushi, ramen, and tempura.
Tempura is a very popular Japanese dish that involves coating protein and vegetables in a light batter before frying them in oil. It is believed to have originally been a Portuguese method of food preparation that was adapted by street vendors hundreds of years ago.
When preparing tempura, the batter that is used to coat your choice of vegetables and protein is known as tempura flour. The exact makeup of tempura flour varies depending on the manufacturer. However, it tends to include a combination of rice flour, starch, and salt.
How is tempura flour different from regular flour?
There are a few key ways in which tempura flour and regular flour differ.
Tempura flour is often a mix of a few different products, including rice flour, tapioca starch, and sometimes corn flour.
The good news for people who have been diagnosed with coeliac disease — an inability to digest the proteins found in wheat, barley, and rye — is that tempura flour is often gluten free. Regular flour, on the other hand, is not suitable for those who are gluten intolerant and should definitely be avoided.
Fast nutritional facts
Tempura is often looked down on as a type of fast food that is high in oil and low in nutritional value. While this can be true, it really depends on what your batter is made from and what vegetables and protein you choose to serve.
One simple way that you can transform tempura into a healthy snack is by choosing to bake rather than fry. Bite sized pieces of tempura will take around 10 to 15 minutes to cook in an oven at 230 ℃.
If you do choose to fry your tempura, make sure you choose an appropriate oil. Canola, peanut, and grapeseed oils are all healthier alternatives that can significantly reduce the amount of fat in your meal.
Zucchini, sweet potato, cauliflower, broccoli, and tofu are all excellent, healthy foods to include in your tempura meal.
Tempura treats to try
The great thing about tempura is that you can use your own favourite vegetables and protein sources. Here are just a few to try! Serves 4.
Ingredients:
● 10 prawns
● 1 sweet potato, peeled and thinly sliced
● 1 head of broccoli, chopped into small florets
● 1 cup of mushrooms
● 1 cup pumpkin, cut into bite-sized pieces
● 1 egg
● 1 cup tempura flour
● 1 cup ice cold water
● Oil, for frying
No tempura meal is complete without dipping sauce. Here’s what you’ll need to make the perfect accompanying condiment.
● 1 cup of chicken stock
● 3 tbsp soy sauce
● 2 tbsp mirin
● 2 tsp sugar
Method:
1. Combine the chicken stock, soy sauce, mirin and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat.
2. Bring to the boil.
3. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer until the sugar has dissolved completely.
4. Set the sauce aside to cool.
5. Cut all vegetables into thin slices.
6. To prepare the batter, beat the egg into a bowl containing the ice cold water.
7. Sift the tempura flour into a separate bowl.
8. Gently pour the ice-cold egg mixture over the tempura flour.
9. Mix the batter until all lumps have disappeared. Try not to over-mix it.
10. Fill a deep pot with enough oil to fry your tempura in. Heat the oil to approximately 170℃.
11. While the oil is heating, coat the ingredients in your batter.
12. Deep fry until golden brown. Most vegetables will take between 30 seconds and a minute to cook completely through.
13. Once cooked, transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel to cool.
14. Serve with your pre-prepared sauce — enjoy!
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