tempura

How to make good batter for frying tempura prawns and other vegetables?

Tempura mixes you buy off the shelf may contain unnecessary additives. So make your own batter!
Basic proportion: 1 egg to about 140ml of icy-cold water to about 110g cake flour.
Some blend flour & cornstarch instead of just flour.

Beat egg with water until blended, then add flour & stir briefly with chopsticks until barely mixed. It should be lumpy. Small lumps of unmixed flour is fine - it gives a lighter, more open fried batter texture. Always add flour to water.. not the other way round.

There're many batter style.. alter flour, egg & water proportions to your liking..

Delicate items like fish & prawns need thin batter whereas thick onion & sweet potatoes suit thick batter.

For prawns, shell it & leaves tails shell on.. Make a shallow cut along the prawn's underside where the legs were - it prevents curl.. and pat it dry before frying.

Oil temperature around 180 deg C at which it shimmer & start to give off a light haze. Japanese restaurant used to add sesame oil to the cooking oil for frying to add fragrance.

Fry without overcrowding.. One 'making flowers' technique used in Japan is to use chopstick tips to dip into the batter and flick droplets onto the frying prawns to build up a lacy irregular crispy coat.

Lastly, eat immediately! Tempura, like any other fried food, sog out in as little as 30 minutes.