Ómós Digest #161: Tempura recipe
Simply the best. Written by Cúán Greene.
Dear Readers,
Following multiple tempura recipe requests via email (after posting an image of corn tempura in this newsletter), here it is! The lightest, most glassy, web-like tempura. It crumbles in the mouth like a wee brittle shortbread, but with the lightness and crunch of a corner shop snack. This batter trumps anything I have had in the past – and that’s saying something as I was just in Japan. It’s a recipe to take to the grave.
I hope you enjoy it.
Cúán.
Listen to your mates
Over a great burger at Allta restaurant in Dublin last week, with my friend and cook, Keith Colemen, he rather abruptly told me that I should be posting more recipes in the newsletter. In all honesty, there's something about recipe publishing that hasn’t quite provided me with the fulfilment I get when writing about the intricacies of food. Writing about a one-pot, 30-minute, budget-saving meal is my idea of hell. I feel a bit empty doing it. It’s not to say that those recipes don’t have a place – I just don’t think that place is here. In explaining this to Keith, I felt ridiculous and pretentious and expected him to tell me to get off my high horse (he has had no problem doing so in the past). But this time was different. To paraphrase my straight-talking dining partner, “Cúán, you're a chef and people want to know what you make and how you do what you do. You know that risotto you were telling me about, that replaces rice with unprocessed oats and seeds? Well that’s a ‘rad’ recipe that people would love to learn about, even if they never make it.” (I don’t think he said ‘rad’, but I’m going to leave it in there). He finished with, “and you know all these dinners you're doing abroad…? Well, when are you going to cook dinners here? People want to eat your food and they don’t want to wait two years for it.” EEK!!!
In response to these cheeseburger-enthused wise words, I have indeed dismounted from the horse and removed my equestrian clothing, replacing it with a cotton apron. And although there are no domestic dinners planned for what’s left of 2024, (other than a private dinner for my friend Robbie who I’ve to thank for DJing at my 30th), the hunger and desire to cook domestically is well and truly there. I promise you (and Keith) that I am working hard to make it happen.
All this said, I wish to share with you one of my favourite recipes. What I believe is a perfect tempura. Like a lot of my cooking, it’s process-driven. When you eat it, I want it to be so good that you subconsciously pick it up and stare at the half-bitten morsel with wonder, marvelling at its composition. An impossibly crisp, light, crumbly, brittle, flaky, fatty, clean, perfectly fried AND steamed bite of perfection. This is what excites me most about food. When something is so good it stops you in your tracks. In that moment, nothing else matters, but you and what sits on the plate before you. A fried piece of fish or vegetable in batter is what it is until it’s not. There's a reason there are chefs and restaurants in Japan dedicated solely to this search for texture. But separating the extraordinary from the every day takes precision. Failure to abide by one of the below principles will result in an inferior product that I believe is consequently not worth your sweat. If you are so brave and disciplined to follow the process, you will be rewarded with something truly special.
I’ve shared the recipe below to paid subscribers. Please let me know how you get on via the comments below (and of course whether Keith was correct and if this kind of recipe is what you are after). I’d probably eat this at home with a soy-based dipping sauce and some steamed rice, or maybe a bowl of noodles swimming in a delicious broth made from last night's chicken. Since this is a recipe about texture, I’m going to leave all that out. Let's get the basics right first.
Important factors to consider when making tempura
Ice cold baby
It's crucial that all your ingredients are cold when making tempura. The ice slows down the formation of gluten during the cooking process. This ensures a crispier cook, while not allowing the batter to absorb the oils in the frying pan during the cooking process. In a restaurant setting, I chill everything, even the flour. But at home, I often just ensure the egg yolk is fridge-cold and the vodka is out of the freezer. When making the batter, I keep the bowl on iced water. This way, the batter remains ice cold.
Vodka, not water
As vodka is more volatile than water, it evaporates more quickly, which dries out the batter faster and more violently. When in contact with the hot oil, vodka creates larger bubbles and more surface area, resulting in a much crispier crust.
Don’t overmix
By overmixing you will create too much gluten. If too much gluten is developed, your tempura will not be crispy but chewy instead, due to too much protein cross-linking. To avoid gluten build-up, whisk the batter with chopsticks rather than a whisk or a fork.
Make the batter just before frying
The less time you have before frying, the less gluten you produce. In professional environments, we make tempura batches multiple times over the course of a service. There should also be large lumps left in the batter.
Oil temperature control
For fish, it’s 180°C. For vegetables, it’s 170-175°C. It’s crucial that your oil is maintained at these temperatures. Use a digital thermometer to manage the temperature. Avoid over-crowding the pan as this will cause the temperature to plummet.
Clean oil
It's important that your oil is clean and any tempura particles are removed between batches using a slotted spoon or small sieve. These pieces will burn, taint your oil or stick to your fresh tempura. A tip I learnt is to add a little old oil to the pot/fryer to give it extra flavour (about 200g of oil to 1.8L of new oil). This gives you the flavour of fried chicken or good tempura, while maintaining a clean, fresh frying oil. It’s not necessary though.
Wire rack
When the tempura has finished cooking, drain it quickly on paper (you can also buy tempura paper but I’ve never used it) and then transfer onto a wire rack. The perforation promotes airflow and prevents steaming, which will make the tempura soggy underneath.
The ingredient
While you can virtually tempura anything, if you choose an ingredient with a low water content you will get the best results. For example, squash blossoms or pre baked pumpkins are great. Typically with ebi or shrimp, Japanese chefs split the tail, scraping it to remove as much water as possible.
The flour
Many recipes call for cake flour which is lower in gluten than AP flour. However it is hard to find, so AP flour can be used instead.
