The Quickest, Easiest Tempura Batter Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to perfect tempura? ›

The secret of the lightness of the tempura is all in the thermal shock: the batter must be worked (a little) in a metal bowl placed in a larger bowl full of ice. A similar rule must be also applied to the vegetables or fish you want to fry: better keep them in the refrigerator until the moment before cooking.

A simple and traditional tempura batter is typically made of ice water, flour, and egg yolks. Variants of tempura batter are sometimes made with soda water, baking soda, cornstarch, potato starch, or rice flour to enhance the crispy texture.

All-Purpose Flour: All-purpose flour can be used as a substitute for tempura flour. However, the resulting batter may be slightly heavier and less crispy than traditional tempura batter. To improve the texture, you can add a small amount of cornstarch to the all-purpose flour to mimic the lightness of tempura flour.

Helpufl Tips: Choice of flour – All-purpose flour is the most basic flour for tempura batter.

From our testing, all purpose flour also tends to yield mediocre results without the use of certain additives, which leaves us with cake flour. Cake flour is used exhaustively by all tempura chefs in Japan, from specialist establishments all the way to street side stores.

A basic Japanese tempura batter is made of flour, egg, and ice water. While simple, there are some tricks to producing crispy tempura. Ice water, sifted flour, and hot oil are just a few of the key factors that will produce restaurant-style results. Nearly anything you can deep-fry is a candidate for tempura batter.

To make crispy tempura batter, use low-protein flour. It is low in gluten, a protein that negatively affects the texture of the batter. Cake flour is one of the best for making the batter. All-purpose flour works too, but not as well.

The batter consistency should be light and watery when it's ready. This is all you need to make the Tempura batter! Hint: You can adjust the batter thickness after a test fry, by adding a touch more flour (thicker coating) or water (thinner coating), just remember to keep it cold!

You can also add a little vodka to help encourage even more crispiness. Now, this may sound crazy, but when you mix your liquid into your dry mix, add some ice cubes, and keep them in there. This makes the cold batter expand rapidly once it hits the hot oil, creating that irresistible crispy texture you crave.

Chef Kono likes to use 100% soybean oil for tempura, but says you can also add sesame oil (1:1 proportion). He cooks the smelt and shunkigu for about 1-2 minutes, more for the fugu. For lotus and other root vegetables, cooking time is longer, about 5 minutes.

Why does my tempura batter fall off? ›

Properly coat the food: Make sure that the food is thoroughly coated with the batter or breading mixture. You can do this by dipping the food in the mixture and making sure it is evenly coated on all sides. If the coating is too thin or uneven, it may fall off during frying.

Sainsbury's Tempura Batter Mix, Inspired to Cook 128g | Sainsbury's.

You can use any vegetable you like, but in this case I used what I had on hand, which was broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes and green beans. Other veggies that would be delicious to tempura are kale leaves, peppers, zucchini and onions. The best part is that you don't even need to cook the vegetables ahead of time.

Baking powder- A leavening agent that helps lighten the texture of the tempura batter. Kosher salt- For seasoning. Club soda- This makes the batter light and airy. Shrimp, deveined and peeled- Shrimp work great with tempura, or you can use other seafood or vegetables.

Tempura batter is made from three key ingredients: flour, egg, and cold water. The main difference between tempura batter and conventional batter is that tempura batter uses significantly less oil and no breadcrumbs. With Tempura batter, you'll get a delicate, crispy result that is lighter than conventional batter.

Because water boils at 100°C, heating the oil to 160°C+ will produce steam bubbles around the batter-coated ingredients. These bubbles keep the oil from penetrating the inside of the tempura and causing it to be too oily. Hence, the hot oil keeps the food crispy!

Setting the fried tempura on a rack will keep it crisp and it'll keep nicely hot in the oven while you cook the rest of the food. You can also prepare the tempura in advance (or keep leftovers) by letting it cool completely on the rack, then storing it in an airtight container in the fridge.