Assorted Tempura
Hi, this is Masa!
Today I want to introduce traditional Japanese cooking
Today's dish is called "Tempura no moriawase" (Assorted Tempura)
In Chinese, it is called "Zonghe Tianfuluo" (Assorted Tempura)
This dish is
one that I thought I had already shared with everyone
But, then, I realized I hadn't officially introduced this dish here
I happened to have the right ingredients today
so I decided to share it with you
Now this method is not difficult
If you prepare each ingredient correctly (Sidebar: Two tricks for amazing tempura)
And control the oil temperature properly (1. Carefully prepare each ingredient)
You will be able to make very crispy and tasty tempura
Let's get started!
4 Mushrooms
4 Mushrooms (make more or fewer as you like)
There may be dust/particles inside
Clean with a brush
Tip: Avoid washing mushrooms to preserve their texture and flavor
Make decorative cuts if you like
"Cross cut"
Tip: Don't change the knife angle. Keep it consistent
Tip: Turn the mushroom (not the knife)! (^o^)/
Finish cutting the remaining mushrooms
About 1/8th of a Pumpkin
Remove seeds
Cut into thin slices
Pumpkins are hard. Watch your hands!
Tip: As tubers (pumpkins, potatoes) cook slower
Tip: if you want, you can cook partially prior to frying
1 Chinese Eggplant
Remove calyx
Cut to an easily workable size
Cut in half lengthwise
Make 2-3 incisions
Tip: Cutting like this helps form a "fan" shape when frying
Finish cuts on remaining pieces
4-6 Egoma (Perilla) Leaves
6 or more Shrimp
Devein the shrimp with a toothpick
Remove head
Leave this part on
Tip: Remove the shell starting from the part you just left on (the tail)
Tip: This way you are less likely to remove the tail by accident!
Tip: You can freeze the heads and shells for making shrimp broth in the future!
The tail has water inside
Cut off the tips
Scrape out the water
Tip: If you skip this step, the water will pop when frying (spraying oil!)
It is okay if you cannot get all the water out
We need to sever the tendons here
Make 4-5 cuts at the surface of the stomach
Place the shrimp on its stomach
Press down to sever the tendons
Tip: Severing the tendons prevents the shrimp from curling up when frying
Prep the remaining shrimp
1/4 of a Turnip
Tip: Grate after peeling or even directly with the skin on
Tip: The skin has lots of enzymes which break down oil when eating fried foods
Use a bamboo sheet or sieve to remove excess water
A light squeeze is fine. You don't want to remove too much water
You can choose any ingredients you like
You can choose any ingredients you like (Tip: Choose your favorite ingredients!)
Normally we choose seasonal ingredients with lots of different colors
Normally we choose seasonal ingredients with lots of different colors (Tip: Normally we choose seasonal vegetables & a variety of colors)
This makes for a beautiful presentation
(Top: Prepare tempura sauce) Japanese broth - 400cc Tip: Watch my "Japanese Broth" video
Mirin - 3 Tbsp Japanese broth - 400cc
Sugar - 1 Tsp Mirin - 3 Tbsp Japanese broth - 400cc
Soy Sauce - 5 Tbsp Sugar - 1 Tsp Mirin - 3 Tbsp Japanese broth - 400cc
Heat to almost boiling until the sugar has just dissolved
Turn off the burner
Tip: You can make more than you need, and refrigerate for up to one week
Prepare tempura batter
Ice water - 100cc (including ice)
Shochu - 50cc Ice water - 100cc (including ice)
Tip: Distilled liquor produces an extra crispy texture
Tip: You can also skip the alcohol, and use 150cc of water instead!
1 Egg Shochu - 50cc Ice water - 100cc (including ice)
Mix well
Cake flour - 100g
Cake flour - 100g (Sift)
Cake flour - 100g
1 Egg Shochu - 50cc Ice water - 100cc Cake flour - 100g
Stir with chopsticks
You want your batter to be very cold
Both the ingredients and the batter should be very cold
Because the oil for frying is very hot
This is how you achieve a heat differential
and that extra crispy texture after frying
After adding the water and egg to the cake flour
I use these large chopsticks to mix the batter like this
Unlike making a cake
you don't need a hand mixer
The batter is better if you intentionally leave it a bit lumpy
So, just pour in the water and don't overmix!
Prepare oil for frying
Start preheating
Sprinkle flour evenly over the ingredients
Make sure all surfaces are lightly covered
Brush off excess flour
Drip in some batter to test the temperature
Tip: You will see the batter sink to the bottom, then float back up
Tip: Start frying when the temperature is 170-180C!
Mushrooms
Coat evenly
Tip: Frying a little at a time keeps the oil from cooling
Tip: Mushrooms cook quickly, so remove once the coating is crispy
Tip: Keep the oil clean by removing batter pieces
Pumpkin
Fry until crispy and interior is done
Tip: If you are not sure it is cooked through, poke with a chopstick to check
Chinese Eggplant
Fan out and cover in batter
Tip: You can remove once the outside is crispy!
Egoma/Pirella Leaves
Coat on just one side
Tip: Preserve the beautiful green color by not overfrying!
Coat shrimp similarly with flour
Remove excess flour
Fry for about 1 minute
How do you make "hana goromo" (extra big and crispy coating)?
Hold the shrimp still
Hold the shrimp still Get some batter on your fingers
Hold the shrimp still Sprinkle the batter on the shrimp
Repeat until you are satisfied
Tip: Using your fingers is more efficient because you can drip more batter at one time
Normal shrimp tempura coating
Flowery shrimp tempura coating
Tempura bits
Use a ladle with holes to pour into the pot
Use a ladle with holes to pour into the pot (Tip: Oil bubbles up easily, so do not pour too much at once)
Fry until golden, then remove from oil
Tip: Freeze for later use (up to 2-3 weeks)!
Okay! So here we have completed a beautiful
and large assorted tempura
Here we go. Time to eat!
Add some shichimi
If you put it in the sauce...
Wow, this is going to taste great
[A little too excited...]
Itadakimasu
Mmm!!
One more bite
This is too good
This is great!
HmMmm!
The shrimp has a super crispy exterior,
because when you cover the shrimp in batter, (Tip: Ideally, the ingredients should be entirely coated)
there is still quite a bit of moisture inside (Tip: Ideally, the ingredients should be entirely coated)
For the shrimp, we used two methods
One way is simply battering and frying
In many tempura restaurants, this method is used
so you can eat a variety of tempuras without overpowering the ingredients with too much coating
So just get a single thin coat over the entire piece Tip: If you are only eating tempura, a thin coat is enough
However, if you are making Donburi, Udon or Soba,
you can make the heavier coating I showed earlier (Tip: Make a "flower" coat if eating with noodles or rice)
That way you can enjoy more sauce (Tip: Make a "flower" coat if eating with noodles or rice)
that gets soaked up by the coating (Tip: Great with Udon, Soba and Donburi!)
You can eat it with Udon or Soba (Tip: Great with Udon, Soba and Donburi!)
or Donburi (rice bowl) works great, too (Tip: Great with Udon, Soba and Donburi!)
I encourage you to try making assorted tempura yourself! (Top-Right: Please hit "Like" and "Subscribe" if you enjoyed this video) (Tip: Stay tuned for more tips on frying!)
Background Music: Amacha Music Studio Le Bus Joe Sacco
Wait until oil cools slightly
Filter with a sieve
Tip: Refrigerate in a container for frying next time, or use to stir fry vegetables