is a typical
Japanese dish usually consisting of
seafood, meat and
vegetables that have been
battered and
deep fried. The dish was introduced by the
Portuguese in Nagasaki through
fritter-cooking techniques in the 16th century. The word ''tempura'' comes from the Latin word , a term referring to times of fasting when the church dictated that Catholics go meatless.
Preparation
Batter
A light
batter is made of iced water,
eggs,
and soft
wheat flour
Wheat flour is a powder made from the grinding of wheat used for human consumption. Wheat varieties are called "soft" or "weak" if gluten content is low, and are called "hard" or "strong" if they have high gluten content. Hard flour, or ''bre ...
(cake,
pastry
or all-purpose flour
). Sometimes
baking soda or
baking powder is added to make the fritter light.
Using sparkling water in the place of plain water
makes a similar effect. Tempura batter is traditionally mixed in small batches using
chopsticks
Chopsticks ( or ; Pinyin: ''kuaizi'' or ''zhu'') are shaped pairs of equal-length sticks of Chinese origin that have been used as kitchen and eating utensils in most of East and Southeast Asia for over three millennia. They are held in the ...
for only a few seconds, leaving lumps in the mixture that, along with the cold batter temperature, result in the unique fluffy and crisp tempura structure when cooked. The batter is often kept cold by adding ice or placing the bowl inside a larger bowl with ice. Overmixing the batter will activate wheat
gluten, which causes the flour mixture to become soft and dough-like when fried.
Specially formulated tempura flour is available in supermarkets. This is generally light (low-gluten) flour and occasionally contains leaveners such as baking powder.
[
* web page of the whole literature]
Standard tables of food composition in Japan 2015 (Seventh Revised Edition)
(archiv
Tempura does not use breadcrumbs (
panko) in the coating.
[No ''panko'' appears in the definition of tempura: ] Deep-fried foods which are coated with breadcrumbs are called ''furai'',
Japanese-invented Western-style deep fried foods, such as ''
tonkatsu'' or ''
ebi furai'' (fried prawn).
No
seasonings or salt is added to the batter, or the ingredients,
except for some recipes recommending rinsing seafood in salt water before preparation.
Frying
Thin slices or strips of vegetables or seafood are dipped in the batter, then briefly
deep-fried in hot
oil.
Vegetable oil or
canola oil are most common; however, tempura was traditionally cooked using
sesame oil. Many specialty shops still use sesame oil or
tea seed oil, and it is thought certain compounds in these oils help to produce light, crispier batter.
The finished fry is pale whiteish, thin and fluffy,
[about Gurunavi]
-> yet crunchy.
The bits of batter (known as ''
tenkasu'') are scooped out between batches of tempura so they do not burn and leave a bad flavor in the oil.
A small mesh scoop (''
Ami jakushi'') is used for this purpose. ''Tenkasu'' are often reserved as ingredients in other dishes or as a topping.
Ingredients
Various seafood and vegetables are commonly used as the ingredients in traditional tempura.
Seafood
The most popular seafood tempura is probably ''ebi'' (shrimp) tempura. Types of seafood used in tempura include:
*
prawn – ''
Ebi tempura''
*
shrimp
*
squid
*
scallop
*
crab
Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all th ...
* ''
ayu'' (
sweetfish
Ayu or AYU may refer to:
* Ayu (given name)
* Ayu sweetfish (''Plecoglossus altivelis''), a species of smelt
* ''Ayu'', a local name for the African manatee
* Ayu (singer) or Ayumi Hamasaki, Japanese singer
* Ayu Islands, a small archipelago in I ...
)
* ''
anago'' (
conger
''Conger'' ( ) is a genus of marine congrid eels. It includes some of the largest types of eels, ranging up to 2 m (6 ft) or more in length, in the case of the European conger. Large congers have often been observed by divers during ...
eel)
*
fish
Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...
*
Catfish
Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...
*
white fish
*
cod
*
haddock
*
pollock
*
coley
*
plaice
*
skate
Skate or Skates may refer to: Fish
* Skate (fish), several genera of fish belonging to the family Rajidae
* Pygmy skates, several genera of fish belonging to the family Gurgesiellidae
* Smooth skates or leg skates, several genera of fish belongi ...
*
ray
Ray may refer to:
Fish
* Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea
* Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin
Science and mathematics
* Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point
* Ray (gr ...
* Huss (Various fish species including ''
Galeorhinus'', ''
Mustelus'', ''
Scyliorhinus'', ''
Galeus melastomus
The blackmouth catshark (''Galeus melastomus'') is a species of catshark, and part of the family Scyliorhinidae, common in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean from Iceland to Senegal, including the Mediterranean Sea. It is typically found over the c ...
'', ''
Squalus acanthias'' – also known as
Spiny dogfish or "
Rock salmon")
*
rock salmon (a term covering several species of
dogfish and similar fish)
*
whiting
*
Japanese whiting – ''kisu''
*
Sea bass
Sea bass is a common name for a variety of different species of marine fish. Many fish species of various families have been called sea bass.
In Ireland and the United Kingdom, the fish sold and consumed as sea bass is exclusively the European ...
*
Sea perch
Vegetables
Vegetables tempura is called ''yasai tempura''. The all-vegetable tempura might be served as a
vegetarian dish. Types of vegetables include:
*
bamboo shoots
*
bell pepper
*
broccoli
*
butternut squash
*
carrot
The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', na ...
*
eggplant
* ''
gobo'' (
burdock, ''
Arctium lappa'')
*
ginger
*
green beans
* ''
kabocha'' squash
*
mushroom
A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans.
The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...
s
**
maitake mushroom
**
shiitake mushroom
*
okra
*
onion
An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the on ...
*
pumpkin
*
potato
The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae.
Wild potato species can be found from the southern Uni ...
* ''
renkon'' (
lotus root)
*
seaweed
* ''
shishito
is a sometimes hot East Asian pepper variety of the species ''Capsicum annuum''., abstract quote: " 'Shishito' (Capsicum annuum L.) is a group of sweet pepper cultivars. Fruits are small, green and non-pungent, but pungent fruits sometimes occu ...
'' pepper
* ''
shiso'' leaf
*
sweet potato
*
yam
Serving and presentation
Cooked pieces of tempura are either eaten with dipping sauce, salted without sauce, or used to assemble other dishes. Tempura is commonly served with grated
daikon
Daikon or mooli, ''Raphanus sativus'' var. ''longipinnatus,'' is a mild-flavored winter radish usually characterized by fast-growing leaves and a long, white, root. Originally native to continental East Asia, daikon is harvested and consume ...
and eaten hot immediately after frying. In Japan, it is often found in bowls of soba or udon soup in the form of shrimp, shiso leaf, or fritter. The most common sauce is
tentsuyu
is Japanese tempura dip.
The recipe for tentsuyu depends on the seasons and on the ingredients for which tentsuyu is being prepared. A general, all-purpose, tentsuyu might consist of three parts dashi, one part mirin, and one part soy sauc ...
sauce (roughly three parts ''
dashi'', one part ''
mirin
is a type of rice wine and a common ingredient in Japanese cooking. It is similar to sake but with a lower alcohol content and higher sugar content. The sugar content is a complex carbohydrate that forms naturally during the fermentation pro ...
'', and one part
''shōyu''). Alternatively, skim tempura may be sprinkled with
sea salt before eating. Mixtures of
powdered green tea and salt or ''
yuzu
Yuzu (''Citrus junos'', from Japanese or ) is a citrus fruit and plant in the family Rutaceae of East Asian origin. Yuzu has been cultivated mainly in East Asia, though recently also in New Zealand, Australia, Spain, Italy, and France. ...
'' and salt are also used.
' is a type of tempura made with mixed vegetable strips, such as onion, carrot, and burdock, and sometimes including
shrimp or
squid, which are deep fried as small round
fritters.
Tempura is also used in combination with other foods. When served over ''
soba'' (buckwheat noodles), it is called ''tempura soba'' or ''
tensoba''. Tempura is also served as a ''
donburi'' dish where tempura shrimp and vegetables are served over
steamed rice in a bowl (''tendon'') and on top of ''
udon'' soup (''tempura udon'').
History
Origins
Earlier Japanese deep-fried food was either simply fried without breading or batter or fried with rice flour. However, toward the end of the 16th century, the technique of fritter-cooking with a batter of flour and eggs was acquired in
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan.
It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...
from Portuguese missionaries. It was a way to fulfill the
fasting and abstinence rules for Catholics surrounding the quarterly
ember days (Spanish: ''
Témporas'').. Portuguese and Spanish, both
Neo-Latin languages
The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language fam ...
, inherited ''Têmpora'' and ''Témpora'' from the Latin ''.'' Hence the etymology of the word. In those days, tempura was deep-fried in lard with a batter of flour, water, eggs, and salt; unlike today, it was eaten without dipping sauce.
In the early 17th century, around the
Tokyo Bay
is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populou ...
area, tempura ingredients and preparation underwent a remarkable change as the
Yatai (food cart) culture gained popularity. Making the best use of fresh seafood while preserving its delicate taste, tempura used only flour, eggs, and water as ingredients, and the batter was not flavored. As the batter was mixed minimally in cold water, it avoided the dough-like stickiness caused by the activation of wheat gluten, resulting in the crispy texture, which is now characteristic of tempura. It became customary to dip tempura quickly in a sauce mixed with grated daikon just before eating it.
Today in Japan, the mainstream of tempura recipes originate from "Tokyo style (Edo style)" tempura, invented at the food stalls along the riverside fish market in the Edo period. The main reason tempura became popular was the abundance of seafood. In addition, as oil extraction techniques advanced, cooking oil became cheaper. Serving of deep-fried food indoors was prohibited during Edo because tempura oil was a fire hazard in Japanese buildings, which were made of paper and wood. Therefore, tempura gained popularity as fast food eaten at outdoor food stalls. It was skewered and eaten with a dipping sauce. Tempura is considered one of "the Edo Delicacies" along with
soba (buckwheat noodles) and
sushi, which were also food-stall take-outs.
The modern tempura recipe was first published in 1671 in the cookbook called "料理献立抄". After the Meiji period, tempura was no longer considered a fast food item but developed as a high-class cuisine.
Etymology
The word "tempura", or the technique of dipping fish and vegetables into a batter and frying them, comes from the word , a Latin word meaning "times", "time period" used by both Spanish and Portuguese missionaries to refer to the
Lent
Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Jesus, temptation by Satan, according ...
en period or
Ember Days (''ad tempora quadragesima''), Fridays, and other Christian holy days. Ember Days, or ' in Latin, refer to holy days when Catholics avoid red meat and eat fish or vegetables instead. The idea that the word "tempura" may have been derived from the
Portuguese noun ', meaning a condiment or seasoning of any kind, or from the verb ', meaning "to season" is also possible as the Japanese language could easily have assumed the word ' as is, without changing any vowels as the Portuguese pronunciation in this case is similar to the Japanese. There is still today a dish in
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
very similar to tempura called ''
peixinhos da horta'', "garden fishes", which consists of green beans dipped in a batter and fried.
The term "tempura" is thought to have gained popularity in southern Japan; it became widely used to refer to any food prepared using hot oil, including some already existing Japanese foods. Today. Particularly in western Japan, the word "tempura" is also commonly used to refer to ''
satsuma-age'', fried surimi fish cake which is made without batter.
Variations
Japan
In Japan,
restaurants specializing in tempura are called ''tenpura-ya''. Many restaurants offer tempura as part of a set meal or a ''
bento'' (lunch box), and it is also a popular ingredient in take-out or convenience store ''bento'' boxes. The ingredients and styles of cooking and serving tempura vary greatly throughout the country, with importance placed on using fresh, seasonal ingredients.
Outside Japan
Outside Japan (as well as recently in Japan), there are many nontraditional and
fusion uses of tempura. Chefs over the world include tempura dishes on their menus, and a wide variety of different batters and ingredients are used, including the nontraditional
broccoli,
zucchini,
asparagus and
chuchu. More unusual ingredients may include
nori slices, dry fruit such as
banana, and
ice cream
Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...
(''tempura''-based
fried ice cream
Fried ice cream is a dessert made of a scoop of ice cream that is frozen hard, breaded or coated in a batter, and quickly deep-fried, creating a warm, crispy shell around the still-cold ice cream.
Origin
There are conflicting stories about th ...
).
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
restaurants are known to serve tempura in the form of various types of meat, particularly chicken and cheeses, usually
mozzarella
Mozzarella (, ; nap, muzzarella ) is a southern Italian cheese traditionally made from Italian buffalo's milk by the pasta filata method.
Fresh mozzarella is generally white but when seasoned it turns to a light yellow depending on the anim ...
. A variation is to use
panko (breadcrumbs), which results in a crisper consistency than tempura batter, although in Japan this would be classified as a ''furai'' dish. Tempura (particularly shrimp) is often used as a filling in ''
makizushi''. A more recent variation of tempura sushi has entire pieces of sushi dipped in batter and tempura-fried.
In
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...
, the blossoms of pumpkins or
marrows are often deep fried with a gram of rice flour spice mix, creating a Bengali-style tempura known as kumro ful bhaja.
Taiwan
In
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...
, tempura, as described in the preceding, is known as ''tiānfùluó'' () and can commonly be found on the menu in Japanese restaurants all over the island. A similar-sounding dish, ''tianbula'' () is usually sold at
night markets. Tianbula is Japanese
satsuma-age and was introduced to
Taiwan under Japanese rule by people from Kyushu, where satsuma-age is commonly known as ''tempura''.
See also
*
Glossary of Japanese words of Portuguese origin
Many Japanese words of Portuguese origin entered the Japanese language when Portuguese Jesuit priests introduced Christian ideas, Western science, technology and new products to the Japanese during the Muromachi period (15th and 16th centuries).
...
*
List of Japanese dishes#Deep-fried dishes (agemono, 揚げ物)
**
Ebi furai: a Japanese dish of breaded and deep-fried shrimp.
**
Karaage: a Japanese cooking technique in which various foods—-most often chicken, but other meat and fish—-are coated with flour and deep-fried in oil.
**
Kushikatsu
, also known as , is a Japanese dish of deep-fried skewered meat and vegetables. In Japanese, refers to the skewers used while ''katsu'' means a deep-fried cutlet of meat.
Ingredients
Kushikatsu can be made with chicken, pork, seafood, and s ...
: a Japanese dish of breaded and deep-fried skewered meat and vegetables.
**
Tonkatsu: Japanese breaded and deep-fried pork cutlet.
**
Toriten: a Japanese fritter of marinated chicken.
**
Karakudamono: a Japanese term used to collectively describe assorted pastry confections of Chinese origin (also called togashi).
* Unbreaded fritters:
**
Crispy kangkóng: Filipino deep-fried water spinach leaves in batter.
**
Pakora: a South Asian food resembling tempura.
**
Okoy: Filipino shrimp fritters.
**
Camaron rebosado
''Camaron rebosado'' is a deep-fried battered shrimp dish in Philippine cuisine. It is usually served with a sweet and sour sauce. It is a common dish in Philippine cuisine.
Etymology
The term ''camaron rebosado'' comes from Spanish '' camar ...
: Filipino deep-fried battered shrimp.
**
Gambas con gabardina: Spanish deep-fried battered shrimp.
References
{{Authority control
Deep fried foods
Easter food
Japanese cuisine terms
Japanese fusion cuisine
National dishes
Portuguese fusion cuisine
Seafood and rice dishes
Shrimp dishes