What to make this weekend: Fiona Uyema’s Kakiage mixed vegetable tempura

I was lucky to learn the secret to a light and crispy tempura batter while living in Japan, and it’s simple – don’t overmix the batter, and use ice-cold water. Overmixing the batter will activate the gluten, leaving the batter heavy and doughy, so lumps are okay.

Fiona Uyema’s Kakiage mixed vegetable tempura
Serves 4

Ingredients

• vegetable oil for deep-frying
• lemon wedges to serve
• freshly ground sea salt to serve (optional)

For the vegetable mix

• 80g sweet potato, cut into matchsticks with the skin still on
• 80g carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks
• 50g kale, stalk removed and roughly chopped
• 100g onion, peeled and cut into thin strips
• 2 tbsp cornflour

For the batter

• 1 egg yolk
• 200ml ice-cold water
• a few ice cubes
• 150g flour, sieved
• 50g cornflour, sieved

For the dipping sauce

• 100ml dashi stock (homemade if possible or 100ml water and a sprinkle of dashi instant granules)
• 20ml mirin
• 20ml soy sauce
• grated ginger/daikon (optional)

Method

1. Put all the ingredients for the dipping sauce into a saucepan and let them simmer for a few minutes, then set aside and let cool.
2. Mix all the vegetables in a large bowl and, using your hands, evenly coat them in cornflour, then set aside.
3. Beat the egg yolk and ice-cold water in a large bowl. Toss in a few ice cubes to keep the water cold.
4. Gradually add the flour and cornflour to the water/egg mix and then lightly mix. It’s OK to leave lumps in the batter.
5. Toss all the vegetables into the batter mix and ensure they are all equally coated.
6. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan to 170ºC (medium/high heat). Drop a bit of batter in the oil to check the temperature. If the batter rises slowly to the top of the oil, starts to sizzle and slowly turns a golden-brown colour, then the temperature is right.
7. Put a large tablespoon of the tempura vegetable mix on a large wooden spoon and slowly place in the oil against the side of the saucepan. Use a large spoon or chopsticks to slide the tempura mix off the wooden spoon and into the oil. Remove the wooden spoon slowly once the tempura mix is secure and firmly bound together.
8. Deep-fry the tempura until it is golden brown, turning a few times.
9. Drain on kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil.
10. Serve with either the dipping sauce or lemon wedges and a sprinkle of freshly ground sea salt.

Tips: For vegetarians, use a vegetarian-based dashi stock using seaweed and/or shiitake mushrooms. Make sure none of the ice-cubes are caught in the kakiage before you place it in the hot oil.

Extracted from Japanese Food Made Easy by Fiona Uyema (Mercier Press), out now.