is a typical
Japanese dish usually consisting of
seafood
Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus an ...
, meat and
vegetables
Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...
that have been
battered and
deep fried
Deep frying (also referred to as deep fat frying) is a cooking method in which food is submerged in hot fat, traditionally lard but today most commonly oil, as opposed to the shallow oil used in conventional frying done in a frying pan. Norma ...
. The dish was introduced by the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
in Nagasaki through
fritter
A fritter is a portion of meat, seafood, fruit, vegetables or other ingredients which have been Batter (cooking), battered or breading, breaded, or just a portion of dough without further ingredients, that is deep-frying, deep-fried. Fritters ar ...
-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
Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...
,
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 ''bread ...
(cake,
pastry
or all-purpose flour
). Sometimes
baking soda
Sodium bicarbonate (IUPAC name: sodium hydrogencarbonate), commonly known as baking soda or bicarbonate of soda, is a chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. It is a salt composed of a sodium cation ( Na+) and a bicarbonate anion ( HCO3∠...
or
baking powder
Baking powder is a dry chemical leavening agent, a mixture of a carbonate or bicarbonate and a weak acid. The base and acid are prevented from reacting prematurely by the inclusion of a buffer such as cornstarch. Baking powder is used to increas ...
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 China, Chinese origin that have been used as Kitchen utensil, kitchen and List of eating utensils, eating utensils in most of East Asia, East and Southe ...
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
Gluten is a structural protein naturally found in certain cereal grains. Although "gluten" often only refers to wheat proteins, in medical literature it refers to the combination of prolamin and glutelin proteins naturally occurring in all grain ...
, 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
Bread crumbs or breadcrumbs (regional variants including breading and crispies) consist of crumbled bread of various dryness, sometimes with seasonings added, used for breading or crumbing foods, topping casseroles, stuffing poultry, thicken ...
) 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
is a Japanese dish that consists of a breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet. It involves coating slices of pork with panko (bread crumbs), and then frying them in oil. The two main types are fillet and loin. Tonkatsu is also the basis of other ...
'' 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
![Frying tempura 2014](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Frying_tempura_2014.jpg)
Thin slices or strips of vegetables or seafood are dipped in the batter, then briefly
deep-fried
Deep frying (also referred to as deep fat frying) is a cooking method in which food is submerged in hot fat, traditionally lard but today most commonly oil, as opposed to the shallow oil used in conventional frying done in a frying pan. Norma ...
in hot
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
.
Vegetable oil
Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of fruits. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed oils, or fat ...
or
canola oil
Close-up of canola blooms
Canola flower
Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae. Historically, ...
are most common; however, tempura was traditionally cooked using
sesame oil
Sesame oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from sesame seeds. The oil is one of the earliest-known crop-based oils. Worldwide mass modern production is limited due to the inefficient manual harvesting process required to extract the oil. O ...
. Many specialty shops still use sesame oil or
tea seed oil
Tea seed oil (also known as ''camellia oil'', ''camellia seed oil'', ''teanut oil'') is an edible plant oil. It is obtained from the seeds of ''Camellia oleifera''.
''Camellia sasanqua'' is also given as a source of 'tea seed oil.
Description
Th ...
, 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 crunchy bits of deep fried flour- batter used in Japanese cuisine, specifically in dishes such as '' soba'', ''udon'', ''takoyaki'' and ''okonomiyaki''. Hot plain ''soba'' and ''udon'' with added ''tenkasu'' are called ''tanuki-soba'' and ...
'') 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
AMI or Ami may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
*AMI-tv, a Canadian TV channel
**AMI-télé, the French-language version
*AMI-audio, a Canadian audio broadcast TV service
*''Ami Magazine'', an Orthodox Jewish news magazine
Businesses ...
'') 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
Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton and ten legs (which is a member of the order decapoda), some of which can be eaten.
The term "prawn"Mortenson, Philip B (2010''This is not a weasel: a close look at nature ...
– ''
Ebi tempura''
*
shrimp
Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...
*
squid
True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting t ...
*
scallop
Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve mollusks in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related families ...
*
crab
Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βÏαχÏÏ‚ , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...
* ''
ayu'' (
sweetfish)
* ''
anago
is the Japanese word for salt-water eels, normally referring to ma-anago ('' Conger myriaster''). Ma-anago are used for a seafood dish in Japan. They are often simmered (sushi) or deep-fried (tempura), compared to unagi (freshwater eels) which ...
'' (
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 t ...
eel)
*
fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...
*
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
Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus '' Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not call ...
*
haddock
The haddock (''Melanogrammus aeglefinus'') is a saltwater ray-finned fish from the family Gadidae, the true cods. It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Melanogrammus''. It is found in the North Atlantic Ocean and associated seas where ...
*
pollock
Pollock or pollack (pronounced ) is the common name used for either of the two species of North Atlantic marine fish in the genus ''Pollachius''. '' Pollachius pollachius'' is referred to as pollock in North America, Ireland and the United Kingd ...
*
coley
*
plaice
Plaice is a common name for a group of flatfish that comprises four species: the European, American, Alaskan and scale-eye plaice.
Commercially, the most important plaice is the European. The principal commercial flatfish in Europe, it is al ...
*
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 belongin ...
*
ray
* Huss (Various fish species including ''
Galeorhinus
The school shark (''Galeorhinus galeus'') is a houndshark of the family Triakidae, and the only member of the genus ''Galeorhinus''. Common names also include tope, tope shark, snapper shark, and soupfin shark. It is found worldwide in temperate ...
'', ''
Mustelus
''Mustelus'', also known as the smooth-hounds, is a genus of sharks in the family Triakidae. The name of the genus comes from the Latin word ''mustela'', meaning weasel. It should not be confused with the genus name ''Mustela'', which is used ...
'', ''
Scyliorhinus
''Scyliorhinus'' is a genus of catsharks in the family Scyliorhinidae. This genus is known in the fossil records from the Cretaceous period, late Albian age to the Pliocene epoch.Carrier, J. C.; Musick, J. A. & Heithaus, M. R. (2004)''Biology of ...
'', ''
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
The spiny dogfish (''Squalus acanthias''), spurdog, mud shark, or piked dogfish is one of the best known species of the Squalidae (dogfish) family of sharks, which is part of the Squaliformes order.
While these common names may apply to several ...
'' – also known as
Spiny dogfish
The spiny dogfish (''Squalus acanthias''), spurdog, mud shark, or piked dogfish is one of the best known species of the Squalidae (dogfish) family (biology), family of sharks, which is part of the Squaliformes order.
While these common names ma ...
or "
Rock salmon
Rock salmon, also called rock eel, flake, huss or Sweet William, is a dish popular in Britain, based on shark, often served as part of a fish and chips dish.
The dish can be one of many species of small shark, including the spiny dogfish (''Sq ...
")
*
rock salmon
Rock salmon, also called rock eel, flake, huss or Sweet William, is a dish popular in Britain, based on shark, often served as part of a fish and chips dish.
The dish can be one of many species of small shark, including the spiny dogfish (''Sq ...
(a term covering several species of
dogfish and similar fish)
*
whiting
*
Japanese whiting
The Japanese whiting, ''Sillago japonica'', (also known as the Japanese sillago or Shiro-gisu) is a common species of coastal marine fish belonging to the smelt-whiting family, Sillaginidae. As suggested by its name, the Japanese whiting was fir ...
– ''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 ba ...
*
Sea perch Sea perch, sea-perch or seaperch are the common names of various fishes, including:
* Fishes of the family Sebastidae, especially those of the genus ''Sebastes
''Sebastes'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the subfamily Sebasti ...
Vegetables
![Veg tempura asakusa](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Veg_tempura_asakusa.jpg)
Vegetables tempura is called ''yasai tempura''. The all-vegetable tempura might be served as a
vegetarian
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter.
Vegetarianism m ...
dish. Types of vegetables include:
*
bamboo shoot
Bamboo shoots or bamboo sprouts are the edible shoots (new bamboo culms that come out of the ground) of many bamboo species including ''Bambusa vulgaris'' and ''Phyllostachys edulis''. They are used as vegetables in numerous Asian dishes and ...
s
*
bell pepper
The bell pepper (also known as paprika, sweet pepper, pepper, or capsicum ) is the fruit of plants in the Grossum Group of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in different colors, including red, yellow, orange ...
*
broccoli
Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large flowering head, stalk and small associated leaves are eaten as a vegetable. Broccoli is cl ...
*
butternut squash
Butternut squash ('' Cucurbita moschata''), known in Australia and New Zealand as butternut pumpkin or gramma, is a type of winter squash that grows on a vine. It has a sweet, nutty taste similar to that of a pumpkin. It has tan-yellow skin an ...
*
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'', nat ...
*
eggplant
Eggplant ( US, Canada), aubergine ( UK, Ireland) or brinjal (Indian subcontinent, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. ''Solanum melongena'' is grown worldwide for its edible fruit.
Mos ...
* ''
gobo
Gobo may refer to:
Places
* GobÅ, Wakayama, a city located in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan
** GobÅ Station, a railway station in the city
* Gobo, Cameroon, a commune in Cameroon
Plants
* GobÅ (''Arctium lappa''), a biennial plant
* Gobo (bur ...
'' (
burdock
''Arctium'' is a genus of biennial plants commonly known as burdock, family Asteraceae. Native to Europe and Asia, several species have been widely introduced worldwide. Burdock's clinging properties, in addition to providing an excellent mecha ...
, ''
Arctium lappa
''Arctium lappa'', commonly called greater burdock, , edible burdock, lappa, beggar's buttons, thorny burr, or happy major is a Eurasian species of plants in the family Asteraceae, cultivated in gardens for its root used as a vegetable. It has b ...
'')
*
ginger
Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice
A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...
*
green bean
Green beans are young, unripe fruits of various cultivars of the common bean ('' Phaseolus vulgaris''), although immature or young pods of the runner bean (''Phaseolus coccineus''), yardlong bean ( ''Vigna unguiculata'' subsp. ''sesquipedalis ...
s
* ''
kabocha
Kabocha (; from Japanese カボãƒãƒ£, å—ç“œ) is a type of winter squash, a Japanese variety of the species ''Cucurbita maxima.'' It is also called kabocha squash or Japanese pumpkin in North America. In Japan, "''kabocha''" may refer to eithe ...
'' 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 t ...
s
**
maitake mushroom
**
shiitake mushroom
The shiitake (alternate form shitake) (; ''Lentinula edodes'') is an edible mushroom native to East Asia, which is now cultivated and consumed around the globe. It is considered a medicinal mushroom in some forms of traditional medicine.
Ta ...
*
okra
Okra or Okro (, ), ''Abelmoschus esculentus'', known in many English-speaking countries as ladies' fingers or ochro, is a flowering plant in the mallow family. It has edible green seed pods. The geographical origin of okra is disputed, with su ...
*
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 onion ...
*
pumpkin
A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...
*
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 Unit ...
* ''
renkon'' (
lotus root)
*
seaweed
Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of '' Rhodophyta'' (red), ''Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ''Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ...
* ''
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
''Perilla frutescens'' var. ''crispa'', also known by its Japanese name shiso, is a cultigen of ''Perilla frutescens'', a herb in the mint family ''Lamiaceae''. It is native to the mountainous regions of China and India, but is now found world ...
'' leaf
*
sweet potato
The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the Convolvulus, bindweed or morning glory family (biology), family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a r ...
*
yam
Serving and presentation
![Tempura and tentsuyu by cathykid in Taipei](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Tempura_and_tentsuyu_by_cathykid_in_Taipei.jpg)
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, ''Radish, Raphanus sativus'' Variety (botany), 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 ...
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 sauce (roughly three parts ''
dashi
is a family of stocks used in Japanese cuisine. ''Dashi'' forms the base for miso soup, clear broth soup, noodle broth soup, and many simmering liquids to accentuate the savory flavor known as umami. ''Dashi'' is also mixed into the flour b ...
'', 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
''shÅyu''). Alternatively, skim tempura may be sprinkled with
sea salt
Sea salt is salt that is produced by the evaporation of seawater. It is used as a seasoning in foods, cooking, cosmetics and for preserving food. It is also called bay salt, solar salt, or simply salt. Like mined rock salt, production of sea sa ...
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.
I ...
'' 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
Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...
or
squid
True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting t ...
, which are deep fried as small round
fritter
A fritter is a portion of meat, seafood, fruit, vegetables or other ingredients which have been Batter (cooking), battered or breading, breaded, or just a portion of dough without further ingredients, that is deep-frying, deep-fried. Fritters ar ...
s.
Tempura is also used in combination with other foods. When served over ''
soba
Soba ( or , "buckwheat") is a thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat. The noodles are served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or hot in a noodle soup. The variety ''Nagano soba'' includes wheat flour.
In Japan, soba noodles can be found i ...
'' (buckwheat noodles), it is called ''tempura soba'' or ''
tensoba
Tensoba, or tempura soba, is a Japanese dish of soba noodles and tempura.
Overview
There are two varieties of tensoba: one is served with a hot broth of and soy sauce; the other is served with cooled soba and dipped in (), either chilled or ...
''. Tempura is also served as a ''
donburi'' dish where tempura shrimp and vegetables are served over
steamed rice
Cooked rice refers to rice that has been cooked either by steaming or boiling. The terms steamed rice or boiled rice are also commonly used. Any variant of Asian rice (both Indica and Japonica varieties), African rice or wild rice, glutinous ...
in a bowl (''tendon'') and on top of ''
udon
Udon ( or ) is a thick noodle made from wheat flour, used in Japanese cuisine. It is a comfort food for many Japanese people. There are a variety of ways it is prepared and served. Its simplest form is in a hot soup as with a mild broth called ...
'' 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, 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 KantÅ 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 populous a ...
area, tempura ingredients and preparation underwent a remarkable change as the
Yatai (food cart)
A is a small, mobile food stall in Japan typically selling ramen or other food. The name literally means "shop stand".
The stall is set up in the early evening on pedestrian walkways and removed late at night or in the early morning hours.
...
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
Soba ( or , "buckwheat") is a thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat. The noodles are served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or hot in a noodle soup. The variety ''Nagano soba'' includes wheat flour.
In Japan, soba noodles can be found i ...
(buckwheat noodles) and
sushi
is a Japanese cuisine, Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is " ...
, which were also food-stall take-outs.
The modern tempura recipe was first published in 1671 in the cookbook called "æ–™ç†çŒ®ç«‹æŠ„". 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 observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...
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
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
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 ...
very similar to tempura called ''
peixinhos da horta
( or ) is a traditional dish in Portuguese cuisine. The name of the dish is literally translated as "Little fishes from the garden", as it resembles small pieces of colorful fish. It was introduced to Japan by Portuguese sailors Antonio da Mota ...
'', "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
is a fried fishcake originating from Kagoshima, Japan. Surimi and flour is mixed to make a compact paste that is solidified through frying. It is a specialty of the Satsuma region. It is known by a variety of regional names throughout Jap ...
'', fried surimi fish cake which is made without batter.
Variations
Japan
In Japan,
restaurant
A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...
s specializing in tempura are called ''tenpura-ya''. Many restaurants offer tempura as part of a set meal or a ''
bento
A is the Japanese cuisine, Japanese iteration of a single-portion take-out or home-packed meal, often for lunch. Outside Japan, it is common in other East and Southeast Asian culinary styles, especially within Chinese cuisine, Chinese, Korean c ...
'' (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
![Chocolate Cookie Tempura (2-2)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Chocolate_Cookie_Tempura_%282-2%29.jpg)
Outside Japan (as well as recently in Japan), there are many nontraditional and
fusion
Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole.
Fusion may also refer to:
Science and technology Physics
*Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...
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
Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large flowering head, stalk and small associated leaves are eaten as a vegetable. Broccoli is cl ...
,
zucchini
The zucchini (; plural: zucchini or zucchinis), courgette (; plural: courgettes) or baby marrow (''Cucurbita pepo'') is a summer squash, a vining herbaceous plant whose fruit are harvested when their immature seeds and epicarp (rind) are st ...
,
asparagus
Asparagus, or garden asparagus, folk name sparrow grass, scientific name ''Asparagus officinalis'', is a perennial flowering plant species in the genus ''Asparagus''. Its young shoots are used as a spring vegetable.
It was once classified in ...
and
chuchu. More unusual ingredients may include
nori
Nori is a dried edible seaweed used in Japanese cuisine, made from species of the red algae genus ''Pyropia'', including ''P. yezonesis'' and '' P. tenera''. It has a strong and distinctive flavor, and is often used to wrap rolls of sushi or '' ...
slices, dry fruit such as
banana
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...
, 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 str ...
(''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
Bread crumbs or breadcrumbs (regional variants including breading and crispies) consist of crumbled bread of various dryness, sometimes with seasonings added, used for breading or crumbing foods, topping casseroles, stuffing poultry, thicken ...
(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
is a Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is "sushi rice," also ...
''. 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 mos ...
, 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 nort ...
, tempura, as described in the preceding, is known as ''tiÄnfùluó'' () 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
is a fried fishcake originating from Kagoshima, Japan. Surimi and flour is mixed to make a compact paste that is solidified through frying. It is a specialty of the Satsuma region. It is known by a variety of regional names throughout Jap ...
and was introduced to
Taiwan under Japanese rule
The island of Taiwan, together with the Penghu Islands, became a dependency of Japan in 1895, when the Qing dynasty ceded Fujian-Taiwan Province in the Treaty of Shimonoseki after the Japanese victory in the First Sino-Japanese War. The sh ...
by people from Kyushu, where satsuma-age is commonly known as ''tempura''.
See also
*
Glossary of Japanese words of Portuguese origin
*
List of Japanese dishes#Deep-fried dishes (agemono, æšã’物)
**
Ebi furai: a Japanese dish of breaded and deep-fried shrimp.
**
Karaage
is a Japanese cooking technique in which various foods—most often chicken, but also other meat and fish—are deep fried in oil. The process involves lightly coating small pieces of the meat or fish with flour, or potato or corn starch, and f ...
: 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 ...
: a Japanese dish of breaded and deep-fried skewered meat and vegetables.
**
Tonkatsu
is a Japanese dish that consists of a breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet. It involves coating slices of pork with panko (bread crumbs), and then frying them in oil. The two main types are fillet and loin. Tonkatsu is also the basis of other ...
: Japanese breaded and deep-fried pork cutlet.
**
Toriten
Toriten is a Japanese tempura style fried chicken. It originated food in ÅŒita Prefecture, and is very popular there.
Any part of the chicken can be used. The meat is cut into small pieces, dipped in soy sauce, sake and garlic powder, rolled in ...
: 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
Crispy kangkong, also called kangkong chips, is a crispy deep-fried Filipino appetizer made with water spinach (''kangkong'') leaves coated with an egg and flour batter. It is eaten dipped in various sawsawan dipping sauces or mayonnaise. A ve ...
: Filipino deep-fried water spinach leaves in batter.
**
Pakora
Pakora () is a spiced fritter originating from the Indian subcontinent. They are sold by street vendors and served in restaurants in South Asia and UK. It consists of items, often vegetables such as potatoes and onions, coated in seasoned gram ...
: a South Asian food resembling tempura.
**
Okoy
''Okoy'' or ''ukoy'', are Filipino crispy deep-fried fritters made with glutinous rice batter, unshelled small shrimp, and various vegetables, including calabaza, sweet potato, cassava, mung bean sprouts, scallions and julienned carrots, ...
: 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 '' camaró ...
: 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