Like many people, I love anything crispy and covered in batter. Well apart from a Mars Bar, that's a bit too far. For me, it used to be good old fashioned Fish and Chips, then when I turned Vegetarian it was discovering Vegetable Tempura at Center Parcs. I loved the fact as a teenager I could have vegetables but they were deep fried and crispy so it was still junk food! Later with my more developed taste, I moved onto trying Sushi at Yo Sushi! and of course that meant a new place to eat the crispy beauties!
Then in came the food intolerances so out went any form of Tempura. It took a few years to find anything even remotely similar. It finally came from the Offbeet magicians in the form of "Asian 'Fish' n Chips". I then thought it was about time I tried something a little more on the experimental side of cooking so I put together this recipe from a few tries and some research from recipes online.
Try it out, it's pretty easy and extremely messy!
Ingredients: (makes enough for 2 meal portions or 4 sides)
1/2 Cup Rice Flour
1/2 Cup Cold Sparkling Water
(you can make as much batter as you like as long as the flour and water are the same volume it works the same, just alter the rest too)
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1 tbsp Ebbtide Seaweed Shaker (optional)
1/4 Lemon, juice squeezed
Vegetables (I prefer Baby Corn, Sliced Peppers, Carrot Sticks, Halved Mushrooms, Courgette, Sweet Potato etc)
About 250ml of Vegetable Oil (may need more depending on size of pan)
Method:
1: Prepare the Vegetables, slice whichever Vegetables you choose into slices or small chunks. Not too big so that they will fry off easily and quickly.
2: Steam cook the vegetables like Baby Corn, Carrots, Courgette and Sweet Potato. Fry off the Mushrooms if you want those. I leave the Sliced Peppers as they are.
3: Put them all to one side to let cool and dry off a bit.
4: Mix together the Rice Flour, Salt, Pepper and Seaweed if you're using it in a small bowl. Then add the Sparkling Water and mix together, watch out it will froth up a little from the chemical reaction. Then add the Lemon juice to smooth it all out.
5: Pour out about 3 cm depth of oil in a pan of any size, the bigger the pan, the more oil you will need. Put it on a medium heat and let it heat up until small bubbles start to come up.
6: Ensure the oil is hot enough by putting a little of the batter in, if it bubbles up and rises to the top then the oil is hot enough. Make sure it is otherwise the batter will just absorb the oil and it won't be crispy, it'll be gooey and an oily mess.
7: Coat the vegetable pieces in Batter, the more you get on each piece the crispier it'll be. I love a large amount of batter for that extra delicious tip over into junk food. But you can coat it however you prefer.
8: Once coated use a utensil with holes to place into the hot oil, remember this oil is boiling so is extremely dangerous so be careful. The oil will start to bubble and spit when you put the vegetables in so keep your hands clear!
9: With the utensil (I use a metal spoon with holes in) turn it over after a few seconds to make sure it is golden all the way around. Once each piece is a golden brown all the way around (it won't take long at all), take it out and place on several sheets of Kitchen Roll so it doesn't sit in oil and become soggy.
10: Once all is fried, serve however you like and enjoy the crispiness of the beautifully golden vegetable tempura! I like mine dipped in Sweet Chilli Sauce or with Rice.
