Light Shrimp and Vegetable Tempura with Tentsuyu

What you need

• 12 large shrimp, shell on
• 1 small sweet potato, about 200 g (7 oz)
• 1 Japanese eggplant
• 8 fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed
• 160 g (1 1/3 cups) cake flour, or low-protein plain flour, plus 3 tbsp for dusting
• 1 egg, cold
• 290 ml (1 1/4 cups) ice water
• 1 l (1 quart) neutral oil, for deep frying
• 150 ml (2/3 cup) dashi stock
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) mirin
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) soy sauce
• 100 g (3 1/2 oz) daikon radish, finely grated

Method

Restated from the original video

1. 1

   For the tentsuyu, bring the dashi, mirin and soy sauce to a boil in a small pan, then set aside to cool slightly.

2. 2

   Peel and devein the shrimp, leaving the last tail segment on. Trim the very tip of each tail and scrape out its water so it does not spit in the oil.

3. 3

   Make 3-4 shallow cuts across the underside of each shrimp, then press it flat on the board so it stays straight when fried.

4. 4

   Slice the sweet potato into rounds 5 mm (1/4 in) thick. Cut the eggplant into thick diagonal slices and score the shiitake caps with a cross.

5. 5

   Pat everything completely dry with paper towels.

6. 6

   Heat the oil in a deep pan to 175 °C (350 °F). A drop of batter should sink a little, then rise straight back up.

7. 7

   Just before frying, beat the egg with the ice water in a large bowl. Add the flour all at once and stir briefly with chopsticks, leaving it lumpy and with some dry flour visible.

8. 8

   Dust the vegetables lightly with flour, dip them in the batter and let the excess drip off.

9. 9

   Fry a few pieces at a time without crowding until the batter is crisp and pale gold, 2-3 min for the sweet potato and 1-2 min for the eggplant and shiitake. Drain on a wire rack.

10. 10

    Dust the shrimp with flour, dip them by the tail in the batter and fry until crisp and just opaque inside, 1-2 min.

11. 11

    Skim loose bits of batter from the oil between batches so they do not burn.

12. 12

    Serve the tempura at once with small bowls of tentsuyu and a mound of daikon to stir into the sauce.

Imported from tasteasianfood.com. Recipe Grab pulled out what you need to cook it; the video stays where its author put it.