Feather-Light Vegetable Tempura with Ginger Dipping Sauce

⏱ 40 min · Serves 4

The secret to shatteringly crisp tempura isn't skill, it's temperature: ice-cold sparkling water, barely-mixed batter, and hot oil. Lumps in the batter are your friend. Serve straight from the pan with a warm ginger-soy dip.

Per serving: 420 kcal · 8.5g protein · 58.0g carbs · 17.0g fat

Ingredients

• 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 5mm rounds
• 1 small aubergine, cut into 1cm half-moons
• 1 red onion, cut into 1cm rings (keep intact)
• 8 green beans, trimmed
• 4 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed
• 1 courgette, cut into batons
• 1.5 litres sunflower or vegetable oil, for frying
• 150g plain flour
• 50g cornflour
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 250ml sparkling water, ice cold
• 1 egg yolk (optional, for richness)
• Extra plain flour for dusting
• For the dipping sauce:
• 150ml water
• 3 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
• 2 tbsp finely grated daikon or radish (optional)

Method

1. Make the sauce: warm the water, soy, mirin and sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves. Take off the heat, stir in the ginger and set aside. Divide into small bowls and top with grated daikon if using.
2. Prepare all the vegetables and pat them thoroughly dry with kitchen paper. Any moisture will make the batter slide off and the oil spit.
3. Heat the oil in a deep, heavy pan to 175-180C. Use a thermometer if you have one; otherwise a drop of batter should sink slightly then bubble briskly back to the surface in about 2 seconds.
4. Whisk the flour, cornflour and salt together in a bowl and chill it while the oil heats. Set a wire rack over a tray nearby.
5. Just before frying, pour the ice-cold sparkling water (and egg yolk, if using) into the dry mix. Stir with chopsticks or a fork only 8-10 strokes, leaving plenty of lumps and streaks of flour. Do not smooth it out.
6. Dust a few pieces of vegetable lightly with plain flour, tap off the excess, then dip into the batter, letting the surplus drip back.
7. Fry in small batches of 4-5 pieces for 2-3 minutes, until pale gold and crisp; sweet potato may need 4 minutes. Don't crowd the pan or the oil temperature will crash.
8. Lift out with a spider or slotted spoon onto the rack, never onto paper towel flat, and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Skim any batter debris from the oil between batches.
9. Serve immediately, in waves as they come out of the pan, with the warm ginger dipping sauce and steamed rice if you like.