Here, quantities of chopped seafood and vegetables are tossed together with batter and then deep-fried by the spoonful. The secret is to have the food and batter as cold as possible and to make the batter just before you are ready to use it.
Ingredients: (Serves 6)
- 300 g/11 oz raw shrimps (prawns), peeled and deveined
- 100 g/4 oz scallops, roe removed
- 1 small carrot, peeled
- 5 cm/2 inch piece of daikon (about 60 g/2 oz), peeled
- 1 small onion
- 6 green beans
- 2 large handfuls mitsuba or flat-leaf (Italian) parsley with stems
- 1½ tablespoons plain (all-purpose) flour
- Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
- 60 ml/2 fl oz/¼ cup sesame oil
- 1 quantity tempura batter
- 1 quantity tempura dipping sauce, or ready-made
Method:
Chop the shrimps and scallops into small pieces. Cut the carrot and daikon into 4 cm/1½ inch lengths, then finely slice into matchsticks, using a very sharp knife or Japanese mandolin with a medium-tooth blade. Cut the onion in half and thinly slice. Thinly slice the beans on the diagonal. Roughly chop the mitsuba leaves and stems.
Put the chopped seafood, julienned vegetables and chopped mitsuba in a bowl with the flour and mix to combine.
Fill a deep-fat fryer or large saucepan one-third full of vegetable oil, then add the sesame oil. Heat to 170°C/325°F, or until a cube of bread dropped into the oil browns in 20 seconds.
To make the tempura batter.
Lightly mix the seafood and vegetable mixture through the tempura batter. Working in batches, drop heaped tablespoons of the mixture into the hot oil and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until crisp, golden and cooked through. Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately with dipping sauce.