Tempura

Not to be confused withTempera.

This article is about the Japanese dish. For the elongated fishballs street food dish known in some parts of the Philippines as "tempura", seeNgo hiang.

Tempura

Alternative names	Tenpura
Place of origin	Japan
Region or state	East Asia
Associatedcuisine	Japanese cuisine
Media: Tempura

Tempurashrimp and vegetables

Tendon

Tenzaru(tempuraandsoba)

Tempuraudon

Tempura(Thiên ぷらorThiên phu la,tenpura,[tempɯɾa])is a typicalJapanese dishthat usually consists ofseafoodandvegetablesthat have been coated in a thinbatteranddeep fried.Tempura has its origins dating back to the 16th century, whenPortugueseJesuitsbrought the Western-style cooking method of coating foods with flour and frying, viaNanban trade.

Preparation

Batter

A lightbatteris made of iced water,eggs,and softwheat flour(cake,pastryor all-purpose flour). Sometimesbaking sodaorbaking powderis added to make the batter light.Using sparkling water in place of plain waterhas a similar effect. Tempura batter is traditionally mixed in small batches usingchopsticksfor only a few seconds, leaving lumps in the mixture that, along with the cold batter temperature, result in a unique fluffy and crisp tempura structure when cooked. The batter is often kept cold by adding ice or placing the bowl inside a larger bowl with ice. Overmixing the batter will activate wheatgluten,which causes the flour mixture to become soft and dough-like when fried.

Specially formulated tempura flour is available in supermarkets. This is generally light (low-gluten) flour and occasionally contains leaveners such as baking powder.

Tempura does not use breadcrumbs (panko) in the coating.Deep-fried foods that are coated with breadcrumbs are calledfurai,Japanese-invented Western-style deep-fried foods, such astonkatsuorebi furai(fried prawn).

Noseasoningsor salt are added to the batter, or the ingredients,except for some recipes recommending rinsing seafood in salt water before preparation.

Frying

Frying tempura

Thin slices or strips of vegetables or seafood are dipped in the batter, then brieflydeep-friedin hotoil.Vegetable oilorcanola oilare most common; however, tempura was traditionally cooked usingsesame oil.Many specialty shops still use sesame oil ortea seed oil,and it is thought certain compounds in these oils help to produce light, crispier batter.

The finished fry is pale whiteish, thin and fluffy,yet crunchy.

The bits of batter (known astenkasu) are scooped out between batches of tempura so they do not burn and leave a bad flavor in the oil.A small mesh scoop (Ami jakushi) is used for this purpose.Tenkasuare often reserved as ingredients in other dishes or as a topping.

Ingredients

Various seafood and vegetables are commonly used as the ingredients in traditional tempura.

Seafood

Scallop tempura with sea urchin roe

The most popular seafood tempura is probablyebi(shrimp) tempura. Types of seafood used in tempura include:

• prawn–Ebi tempura
• shrimp
• squid
• scallop
• crab
• ayu(sweetfish)
• anago(congereel)
• fish
• Catfish
• white fish
• cod
• haddock
• pollock
• coley
• plaice
• skate
• ray
• Huss (Various fish species includingGaleorhinus,Mustelus,Scyliorhinus,Galeus melastomus,Squalus acanthias– also known asSpiny dogfishor "Rock salmon")
• rock salmon(a term covering several species ofdogfishand similar fish)
• whiting
• Japanese whiting–kisu
• Sea bass
• Sea perch

Vegetables

Mushroom tempura

Assorted vegetable tempura served at San-Sada restaurant inAsakusa,Tokyo,Japan

Vegetables tempura is calledyasai tempura.The all-vegetable tempura might be served as avegetariandish. Types of vegetables include:

• bamboo shoots
• bell pepper
• broccoli
• butternut squash
• carrot
• maize
• eggplant
• gobo(burdock,Arctium lappa)
• ginger
• green beans
• kabochasquash
• mushrooms
  • maitake mushroom
  • shiitake mushroom
• okra
• onion
• pumpkin
• potato
• renkon(lotusroot)
• seaweed
• shishitopepper
• shisoleaf
• sweet potato
• yam

Serving and presentation

Tentsuyuis the most common sauce consumed with tempura.

Cooked pieces of tempura are either eaten with dipping sauce, salted without sauce, or used to assemble other dishes. Tempura is commonly served with grateddaikonand eaten hot immediately after frying. In Japan, it is often found in bowls of soba or udon soup in the form of shrimp, shiso leaf, or fritter. The most common sauce istentsuyusauce (roughly three partsdashi,one partmirin,and one partshōyu). Alternatively, skim tempura may be sprinkled withsea saltbefore eating. Mixtures ofpowdered green teaand salt oryuzuand salt are also used. Kakiageis a type of tempura made with mixed vegetable strips, such as onion, carrot, and burdock, and sometimes includingshrimporsquid,which are deep fried as small roundfritters.

A tower-shaped kakiage bowl (Temdon), a specialty ofOarai Town Japan

Tempura is also used in combination with other foods. When served oversoba(buckwheat noodles), it is calledtempura sobaortensoba.Tempura is also served as adonburidish where tempura shrimp and vegetables are served oversteamed ricein a bowl (tendon) and on top ofudonsoup (tempura udon).

History

Peixinhos da horta( "Little fishes from the garden" ), the Portuguese ancestor of Japanese tempura

Tempurayatai(stall) ofEdo period

Black bassten-doninLake Ashi,Japan

Tenya

Origins

Earlier Japanese deep-fried food was either simply fried without breading or batter or fried with rice flour.However, toward the end of the 16th century, the technique of fritter-cooking with a batter of flour and eggs was acquired inNagasakiby Portuguese missionaries.Peixinhos da hortawas a dish often eaten duringLentorEmber days,to fulfill thefasting and abstinence rules for Catholics.The word "tempura" originates from theLatinwordtempora,a term referring to these fasting times(Spanish:Témporas).In those days, the ingredients were covered in thick batter containing flour, sugar and sake, and then fried in lard. As the batter already contained seasoning, it was eaten without dipping sauce.

In the early 17th century, around theTokyo Bayarea, tempura ingredients and preparation underwent a remarkable change as theyatai(food cart) culture gained popularity. Making the best use of fresh seafood while preserving its delicate taste, tempura used only flour, eggs, and water as ingredients, and the batter was not flavored. As the batter was mixed minimally in cold water, it avoided the dough-like stickiness caused by the activation of wheat gluten, resulting in the crispy texture, which is now characteristic of tempura. It became customary to dip tempura quickly in a sauce mixed with grated daikon just before eating it.

Today in Japan, the mainstream of tempura recipes originate from "Tokyo style" (also known as Edo style) tempura, invented at the food stalls along the riverside fish market in the Edo period. The main reason tempura became popular was the abundance of seafood. In addition, as oil extraction techniques advanced, cooking oil became cheaper. Serving deep-fried food indoors was prohibited during Edo because tempura oil was a fire hazard in Japanese buildings, which were made of paper and wood. Therefore, tempura gained popularity as fast food eaten at outdoor food stalls. It was skewered and eaten with a dipping sauce. Tempura is considered one of "the Edo Delicacies" along withsoba(buckwheat noodles) andsushi,which were also food stall take-outs.

The modern tempura recipe was first published in 1671 in the cookbook called "Liêu lý hiến lập sao". After the Meiji period, tempura was no longer considered a fast food item but developed as a high-class cuisine.

Etymology

The word "tempura", or the technique of dipping fish and vegetables into a batter and frying them, comes from the wordtempora,a Latin word meaning "times", "time period" used by both Spanish and Portuguese missionaries to refer to theLentenperiod orEmber Days(ad tempora quadragesima), Fridays, and other Christian holy days. Ember Days, orquatuor anni temporain Latin, refer to holy days when Catholics avoid meat and eat fish or vegetables instead.The idea that the word "tempura" may have been derived from thePortuguesenountempero,meaning a condiment or seasoning of any kind, or from the verbtemperar,meaning "to season" is also possible as the Japanese language could easily have assumed the wordtemperoas is, without changing any vowels as the Portuguese pronunciation, in this case, is similar to the Japanese.There is still today a dish inPortugalvery similar to tempura calledpeixinhos da horta,"garden fishes", which consists of green beans dipped in a batter and fried.

The term "tempura" is thought to have gained popularity in southern Japan; it became widely used to refer to any food prepared using hot oil, including some already existing Japanese foods.Today, particularly in western Japan, the word "tempura" is also commonly used to refer tosatsuma-age,fried surimi fish cake which is made without batter.

Variations

Japan

In Japan,restaurantsspecializing in tempura are calledtenpura-ya.Many restaurants offer tempura as part of a set meal or abento(lunch box), and it is also a popular ingredient in take-out or convenience storebentoboxes. The ingredients and styles of cooking and serving tempura vary greatly throughout the country, with importance placed on using fresh, seasonal ingredients.

Outside Japan

Tempuraice cream

Chocolatecookie tempura

Outside Japan (as well as recently in Japan), there are many nontraditional andfusionuses of tempura. Chefs all over the world include tempura dishes on their menus, and a wide variety of different batters and ingredients are used, including nontraditionalbroccoli,zucchini,asparagusandchuchu.More unusual ingredients may includenorislices, dry fruit such asbananas,andice cream(tempura-basedfried ice cream).Americanrestaurants are known to serve tempura in the form of various types of meat, particularly chicken and cheeses, usuallymozzarella.A variation is to usepanko(breadcrumbs), which results in a crisper consistency than tempura batter, although in Japan this would be classified as afuraidish. Tempura (particularly shrimp) is often used as a filling inmakizushi.A more recent variation of tempura sushi has entire pieces of sushi dipped in batter and tempura-fried.

InBangladesh,the blossoms of pumpkins ormarrowsare often deep-fried with a gram of rice flour spice mix, creating a Bengali-style tempura known as kumro ful bhaja.

Taiwan

InTaiwan,tempura, as described in the preceding, is known astiānfùluó(Thiên phụ la) and can commonly be found on the menu in Japanese restaurants all over the island. A similar-sounding dish,tianbula(Chinese:Điềm bất lạt;pinyin:tiánbùlà;lit.'sweet', 'not spicy') is usually sold atnight markets.Tianbula is Japanesesatsuma-ageand was introduced toTaiwan under Japanese ruleby people from Kyushu, where satsuma-age is commonly known astempura.

See also

• Glossary of Japanese words of Portuguese origin

• List of Japanese dishes#Deep-fried dishes (agemono, dương げ vật )
  • Ebi furai:a Japanese dish of breaded and deep-fried shrimp.
  • Karaage:a Japanese cooking technique in which various foods—-most often chicken, but other meat and fish—-are coated with flour and deep-fried in oil.
  • Kushikatsu:a Japanese dish of breaded and deep-fried skewered meat and vegetables.
  • Tonkatsu:Japanese breaded and deep-fried pork cutlet.
  • Toriten:a Japanese fritter of marinated chicken.
  • Karakudamono:a Japanese term used to collectively describe assorted pastry confections of Chinese origin (also called togashi).
• Unbreaded fritters:
  • Crispy kangkóng:Filipino deep-fried water spinach leaves in batter.
  • Pakora:a South Asian food resembling tempura.
  • Okoy:Filipino shrimp fritters.
  • Camaron rebosado:Filipino deep-fried battered shrimp.
  • Gambas con gabardina:Spanish deep-fried battered shrimp.