Go to a Japanese restaurant, and you are bound to enjoy shrimp and vegetables fried in tempura batter. Tempura is one of the best-known foods in Japanese cuisine.
Tempura is most often served in Japanese restaurants. Fresh vegetables like sweet potatoes, zucchini, squash, onions, and more are deep-fried in a crispy batter. If you go to a Japanese restaurant and some Chinese restaurants you are bound to find tempura inspired items on the menu.
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Homemade Tempura Batter
Did you know it’s super easy to make tempura? Tempura is a light and crispy batter that is made with flour and often ice water to help it get a very light texture.
You can use specialty flours sold in supermarkets designed to super crispy tempura, but regular flour will work if you do not stir the batter too much. Stirring that batter too much will result in a batter that isn’t as light because the gluten becomes activated with lots of stirring of the batter.
What do you need to deep fry?
Ideally, you should have a small deep fryer. I love my t-Fal deep fryer. It does a great job of keeping the hot oil at the same temperature. It also has a handy strainer to you can strain out the cooked bits, so you can use your oil again.
If you don’t have a deep fryer, you can use a deep pot and a thermometer to ensure to keep the oil at the right temperature.
I also recommend using a wire rack to drain what you have just cooked instead of using a paper towel. When you put hot food on paper towels it tends to steam, and you lose the crispy crust you just spent time working on.
What should you dip into tempura batter?
Root vegetables like sweet potatoes, yams, daikon radish, and onions are great candidates for cooking in tempura. Broccoli florets, broccolini, and carrots are also perfect to deep fat fry with tempura batter.
You can also dip fish and chicken in the batter.
What should you serve tempura vegetables with?
You may want to dip your tempura vegetables into soy sauce, wasabi, or even ponzu sauce. Some people like to create a dipping sauce with equal parts of soy sauce and dry sherry.
Love Japanese food? Try these favorite recipes
- Shrimp Tempura Recipe
- Japanese Katsu Recipe
- Hibachi Steak Recipe
- Hibachi Fried Rice
- Hibachi Restaurant Salad Dressing
- Panko Style Breadcrumbs
Best Chinese Food Recipes
- Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- General Tso Chicken
- Chinese Pork Spareribs
- Mongolian Beef Recipe
- Hunan Chicken Recipe
- Crispy Sweet and Sour Chicken
- Egg Drop Soup Chinese
Be sure to check out more of my easy Asian recipes and how to cook guides.
Tempura Batter
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups cornstarch
- 2 cups club soda
- 1/4 cup finely chopped herbs (such as parsley, chives, thyme, rosemary)
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Know you can fry up vegetables, seafood, or anything else you desire.
- Heat vegetable oil to 350 degrees.
- Dip vegetables into the batter, and deep fry the vegetables until they are a pale golden brown.
- Drain cooked vegetables on a wire rack.
Jerilyn Smereczniak
I made this recipe today and like all the others, I noticed it was too thick, so I added more club soda. Problem solved. I will make it again, but next time I’ll add salt to the batter. I drained the fried zucchini strips on a rack instead of paper towels and it was nice and crispy. Thanks for the recipe!
Debra
Fantastic! Simply and good… Nice & Crispy!!!
Annie
This is a great tempura batter – light and crispy. This is now my go to recipe.
Jason
It was a little too thick so, I did add more liquid and then it was fine. Also added some seasoned salt. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
G Secuban
This recipe was so good!! I had some vegetables I needed to cook so I thought tempura would be great. fried baby bok choy leavea, red onion petals and asparagus…So delicious and perfectly crispy. As others shared if it is too thick add more club soda. I also added dried herbs like chives and parsley. I got it to a thicker pancake like batter. You definitely want it to thr consistency where you can easily dip veggies. Saved remaining batter in fridge. Will try shrimp for dinner. Thanks for the suggestion for the deep fried oreos for a sweeter version. I will definitely try that next time 🙂
Daniela Rivas
I think I made it wrong, the batter is too tick. It is 1 cup and2/3 of flour or just 2/3?
Stephanie
It was 1 2/3 cups, so 1 cup plus 2/3 more. If it is a little thick you can add more soda.
Carol
Not like tempura at all. Sorry but I won’t be using this recipe again.
Alexa
Why was it not like tampura?
Stephanie Manley
So if the batter wasn’t crispy, you may want to check the temperature of the oil. Was the batter too thick? Did it take on too much oil? Can you help me diagnose what happened?
Gwen cannon
This was an amazing recipe!
Mulan
I didn’t know I could make this from scratch. Now I don’t have to buy the mix!
Killer
Excellent!
Sheila
Luv ur websitee, found lots of recipes that I can’t wait to try them alll
Nancy
I omitted the herbs and sesame seeds and deep fried oreos, chocolate chip cookies and even a chocolate donut! The doughnut did not work so well but everything else was wonderful!