Monday, January 20, 2014

Kani and Vegetable Tempura

Bagets made a special request to cook tempura at home and after sampling tempura from a popular local fast food I told myself I could do much better (my palate has strangely been rejecting oily food lately). It was a bit hard though to assemble the ingredients. I consulted several online recipes and this is what worked for me with the limited supply available locally.



12-15 pieces kani (you can also use shrimp if you like)
10-15 pieces vegetable (squash + radish or whatever you want)

Tempura sauce

1/2 cup kikkoman
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon dashi powder + 1.5 cup water (or use 1 beef cube)
2 tablespoons mirin or rice wine
1/2 cup grated radish



(1) I couldn't find any dashi powder so I dissolved one beef cube in 1.5 cups of water in a saucepan. Stir until it dissolves.
(2) Add kikkoman and white sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
(3) Add grated radish. Just keep the mixture warm, don't let it boil.
(4) Remove from fire. Let it cool a bit before adding the mirin.
(5) Set aside but don't remove from saucepan. Just warm it a little before serving.

Batter

1 cup cake flour (APF is fine too)
1/2 cup cake flour (or APF) for dredging
2 cups cornstarch
2 egg yolks
1 cup cold water with ice

I know it looks a little odd, I was trying not to burn it (haha). 
Don't fry the kani too long though coz it'll start breaking out. 

(1) Mix cake flour (or APF) with cornstarch.
(2) Add 2 egg yolks (make sure they just came from the ref)
(3) Add water until the batter is light (not thick). Add ice if it gets watery/add water if it's too thick. Make sure that the batter is cold until you finish cooking.
(4) Dredge kani/veggies in flour and coat with batter (not too thick, you don't want it to be chewy).
(5) Deep fry in vegetable oil.

Serve with tempura sauce. Grated ginger and radish on the side (optional).

It took me about an hour and a half to go through the recipe (including research on techniques and washing dishes), but I think I'll finish faster next time.

Verdict:


Sweetie and Bagets loved it. We all ate too much! 

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