7 Secrets To Perfect Tempura

Tempura is loved all over the world as a typical Japanese food.

The crispy and juicy tempura makes all the ingredients even more delicious, doesn’t it?

As you may already know, the most crucial part you shouldn’t fail when making tempura is the crispy tempura batter!

However, it’s always not easy to make perfect tempura batter: it sometimes becomes too thick, too thin, or sticky with oil.

Here, I would like to introduce 7 secrets for making amazingly delicious tempura at home. I believe everybody can make great crispy tempura with those tips!

Contents

Ingredients for Tempura Batter [4 servings]
Tip1: Use ice water for batter
Tip2: Do not mix the batter too much
Tip3: Drain the water from the ingredients
Tip4: Quickly pass the ingredients through the batter
Tip5: Use plenty of frying oil and add ingredients little by little
Tip6: Do not touch tempura as much as possible
Tip7: Drain the oil from tempura well
Conclusion

Ingredients for Tempura Batter [4 servings]

7 oz Flour
2 tablespoons Potato starch
A pinch of Salt
0.8 cup (200ml) Water*
*Add ice to the 1.3 cup (300ml) scale

Tip1: Use ice water for batter

The tempura batter won’t be deep-fried crispy when gluten is generated. Gluten is less likely to occur when mixed at low temperatures. That’s why you should add ice in the water.

The water gets lukewarm gradually, so make sure to prepare iced water and do not place it near the fire.

Tip2: Do not mix the batter too much

In fact, if you mix flour with water and stir too much, gluten is generated and stickiness comes out. Then, the batter will be sticky and not crispy at all.

To avoid that, you should stir the batter only 3 times with chopsticks (or spoon). It is best if the powder lumps remain.

Tip3: Drain the water from the ingredients

Before you put the ingredients into the batter, you should remove the water on the surface of ingredients using paper towel. In that way, they can be fried crisply, and it also prevents oil splashes.

Although it’s not essential, it’s better to sprinkle extra flour on the surface of ingredients so that it won’t wear more batter than necessary.

Tip4: Quickly pass the ingredients through the batter

Tip5: Use plenty of frying oil and add ingredients little by little

When you cook fried food, adding ingredients lowers the temperature of the oil. So, let’s use enough amount of oil which the ingredients float firmly on.

Also, do not put ingredients at once, but put little by little to make the temperature uniform.

Click here to see the optimum temperature for delicious tempura
What Temperature Do You Cook Tempura?

Tip6: Do not touch tempura as much as possible

If you put ingredients in oil and mess with them with chopsticks, the batter will come off or crumble, so you should wait without touching it.

If there are vigorous bubbles coming out of the tempura, it’s a sign that it’s frying smoothly, so let’s fry it slowly without rushing.

By the way, thick ingredients will need to be turned over. But just try not to touch it except for the moment when you turn it over.
Let’s deep-fry until both sides are golden brown.

Tip7: Drain the oil from tempura well

After finishing deep-frying, drain extra oil from tempura well using cooking bat. Even if you fry it well, if you neglect to drain the oil, it will have a sticky and oily texture, so be careful.

Let’s line up each tempura without stacking on the bat, otherwise the tempura overlaps and become greasy.