TEMPURA

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 12 green king prawns, peeled, tails intact, deveined
• 2 small baby eggplants, trimmed, thinly sliced lengthways
• 12 stringless green beans
• 1/2 small sweet potato, peeled, cut into 5mm-thick slices
• 1/3 cup plain flour
• vegetable oil, for deep-frying
• Kikkoman Soy, Sashimi and Sushi Dipping Sauce, to serve

• Tempura batter

• 2 egg yolks
• 2 cups chilled water (see note)
• 2 cups plain flour

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Place prawns, eggplant, beans and sweet potato on a flat tray lined with paper towel. Pat with more paper towel to remove excess moisture. Place plain flour in a shallow bowl.
2. Half-fill a deep-fryer or wok with oil. Heat until hot. Place a wire rack over a baking tray lined with paper towel.
3. Make tempura batter Meanwhile, combine 1 egg yolk and 1 cup chilled water in a bowl. Stir with chopsticks or flat-bladed knife. Add 1 cup flour and stir lightly with chopsticks. Do not beat or over-mix (flour should still be lumpy).
4. Dip prawns and eggplant lightly in plain flour. Dip in tempura batter to coat. Gently ease 5 to 6 pieces at a time into hot oil. Cook, turning occasionally, for 2 to 3 minutes or until crisp and golden. Use a slotted spoon to remove to wire rack. Make second batch of tempura batter using remaining ingredients. Repeat step 4 using tempura, beans and sweet potato.
5. Arrange prawns and vegetables on serving plates. Serve with dark soy dipping sauce.

Notes

• Ice-cold water must be used to achieve a lacy effect with tempura batter.
• Shortcut: Look for 320g packets of Nisshin Tempura Batter Mix in the Asian section of your supermaket. Nisshin mix is quick, easy to prepare and foolproof.
• Take a trip around the globe with our range of international recipe collections. Start with our French recipes, Thai recipes, Turkish recipes and Spanish recipes.

<http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/183/mixed+tempura>