Here's a great little lunch or starter for 4 people. You shouldn't ever think that deep fried food is unhealthy. If cooked at the correct temperature the minimum amount of oil is absorbed leaving a fabulously crispy tempura with a slight crunch to the cauliflower & broccoli... a pure delight. Of course you can adapt this recipe for most vegetables of your choice.
Try making the salad first and leaving it to 'pickle' for an hour or so if possible. The vegetables then soak up the marinade making a crisp, yet flavoursome dish in itself.
You will need either a deep fat fryer with temperature control or a wok/ deep frying pan and a thermometer. I used Sunflower oil to fry but just use what you have to hand.
The Salad
1 tsbp soy sauce
1 tbsp Rice Vinegar (or red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar)
1 tbsp Mirin
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tsp wasabi powder or paste
pinch of chilli flakes
1" piece of fresh ginger finely chopped
1 tsp black onion seeds (optional)
1 tsp palm or brown sugar
mix all the above ingredients together
6 radishes thinly sliced
6" piece of cucumber sliced thinly
1 red pepper " "
1 red onion " "
place everything in a bowl, toss together with the marinade and refrigerate until needed
You will need
1 small Cauliflower broken into florets
1 head of Broccoli " " "
Steam over boiling water for 3 minutes. I recommend that you don't boil the vegetables as you want them to be as dry a possible before frying.
For the Tempura Batter ( do not make until you're absolutely ready with everything else)
3 oz/85 gms self raising flour
2 tbsps Cornflour
½ tsp salt
1 tsp Wasabi powder or Colmans Mustard powder
1 tsp baking powder
enough fizzy water to produce a double cream consistency ( should cover the back of a spoon without immediately running off it )
Sieve together the dry ingredients
Very quickly combine everything together... do not over mix ...it doesn't matter if there's still a few lumps in it
Now heat up the oven to around 120c/250f and place a tray lined with paper towel in it .. just to keep the batches of tempura warm whilst the rest is cooking...leave the door slightly ajar so the tempura doesn't go soggy
To Fry
Heat the oil to 190c/375f
NB ...Fry in small batches...do not overload the pan ... and make sure the oil gets back to temp before adding more tempura
Quickly dip small batches of the vegetables in the batter and fry until beautifully crisp & light brown in colour
remove with a slotted spoon to the lined oven tray to keep warm whilst you cook the rest.
Serve while it's still hot along with the pickled salad and some shop bought sweet chilli sauce and a sprinking of chopped chives or coriander (cilantro)
