Crispy Light Vegetable Tempura

I absolutely love vegetable tempura and have tried and tested loads of ways to get the perfect light and crisp batter.  Most tempura batters include eggs; however, I find that the batter becomes too soggy and not crisp enough. The secret ingredient to replace the egg in mayonnaise… by using mayo, the oils disappear into the batter, and the tempura turns out gorgeously crunchy but still so light.  The batter itself comprises only 3 simple ingredients, flour, ice water, and Japanese mayonnaise.  

I used what veggies I had in the fridge, but you could use mushrooms, peppers, courgettes, carrots, even fish or prawns.  It is a great way to get the kids to eat veggies they wouldn’t normally eat… I was in shock that my 3 kiddos were actually fighting over the last asparagus spear!

The Japanese mayonnaise I use is Kewpie brand @kewpieusa, available on Amazon and in Oriental supermarkets.  I find it creamier than normal mayonnaise as it is made with only egg yolks and not full eggs, another fab pantry ingredient I use in sushi all the time.

Crispy Light Vegetable Tempura

Serves: 4 Prep Time: 30 Minutes Cooking Time: 20 Minutes 20 Minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 2.5/5

( 2 voted )

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Ingredients

• Cooking Oil
• Sweet Potato
• Small Aubergines
• Asparagus Tips
• Broccoli
• Green Beans
• TEMPURA BATTER
• 100g All-purpose flour
• 150ml Water, ice-cold
• 2 tbsps Japanese Mayonnaise – I used the Kewpie brand
• DIPPING SAUCE
• 240ml Dashi stock
• 60ml Soya Sauce
• 60ml Mirin
• ½ tbsp Sugar
• Optional – Daikon finely grated (Japanese radish or mooli)

Instructions

1. Slice vegetables to desired thickness. For the aubergine, slice them, leaving the stem intact, and fan them out slightly with your hands.
2. Make the dipping sauce by bringing all ingredients except daikon to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat, set aside to cool, and add finely grated daikon if using.
3. Mix the batter ingredients; however, do not over mix. A few lumps in the batter are fine; refrigerate until ready to fry.
4. Heat oil in a wok ready for deep frying, the temperature should be around 180℃ 
5. Once the oil is at the right temperature, dip each vegetable one at a time into the batter and then into the oil. 
6. Once cooked and crisp, remove the vegetables onto a kitchen towel to drain off the excess oil.
7. Continue to coat and fry until all vegetables are done
8. Enjoy hot with the dipping sauce

Did You Make This Recipe?

Would love to hear your feedback! If you make this recipe, please tag me on Instagram @zarskitchen.