Vegetable Tempura

What can I say? Veggies taste better deep-fried.

Vegetable Tempura

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 3 minutes per batch (total approximately 30 minutes)
Total time: 45 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

For the Tempura

• 1 box tempura batter mix

• Vegetable oil for frying

• ½ bunch asparagus

• ½ cup sliced sweet red pepper

• ½ a medium sized zucchini, cut into rounds

• 1 cup button mushrooms, left whole if small or halved if large

For Dipping Sauce

• 1 cup water

• 1 tablespoon dashi flavoured soup mix (we found this at the Asian supermarket)

• ¼ cup mirin

• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 1 green onion, finely chopped

DIRECTIONS

Preheat 4 inches of vegetable oil over medium heat in a saucepan. The oil should be heated to 375F but if you don’t have a deep frying thermometer (which most of us don’t) a good way to check is to toss in a cube of bread. It should brown in approximately 2 minutes.

Follow directions on tempura batter box. You should be adding ice-cold water to the batter mix, ensuring you do not overbeat it (it’s okay if it’s lumpy)! We swapped out ice-cold water for ice-cold soda water for an extra light and crispy batter.

In a medium sized bowl combine all ingredients for the dipping sauce and set aside.

Dip the vegetables in the batter and fry 3-4 of them at a time until golden brown. This should take approximately 2-3 minutes for each batch. Set them on a paper towel to drain excess grease. Serve with dipping sauce and enjoy!