What is tempura?
Tempura is a Japanese dish that is composed of battered and fried vegetables and /or fish. Does fried battered food strike you as something we should be avoiding in our diets?
That’s a good question.
If you’re thinking about the more ‘traditional’ battered foods, then you’ll be delighted to know that tempura is made using a special, milk-free batter which is a lighter version of those we are more familiar with.
And it is usually served in small portions along with a dipping sauce and fresh vegetables or salad.
The secret of tempura is in the lightness of the batter. Some people, when making this dish, use water from a soda syphon to add even more lightness to the batter.
Because this batter is used for frying seafood and vegetables, the time required in the deep frier is short – fish cooks quickly and vegetables retain their crunch. This means that less oil is absorbed into the food itself.
After frying, these fritters are drained on paper to remove excess oil.
The Japanese diet has traditionally been known as being a healthy way of eating. Indeed, the only reason that health statistics
declined some years ago in Japan was due to the introduction of the western diet and the fact that the Japanese were no longer eating exclusively their healthy, traditional recipes.
To make authentic tempura, it’s easy to buy a special tempura flour. If you can’t find it in a local grocery store, you can buy tempura flour
I discovered a wonderfully light batter recipes that you might wish to use instead.It’s incredibly easy to make and I use it for the following dishes – you can see the batter recipe and its secret ingredient. 🙂
Elegant and easy battered mushrooms
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