Vegetable Tempura with Chili Soy Sauce
Vegetable tempura with crispy chili sauce is a Japanese dish that combines the goodness of crunchy, fresh vegetables with a spicy and savory sauce.
This recipe is perfect for those looking for a delicious vegetarian meal, with carrots, parsnips, zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms, and bell peppers. The tempura batter is light and crispy, giving the dish a unique texture. However, the real star is the crispy chili sauce.
Bursting with flavor, it’s made with a blend of sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar, lime, pepper, ginger, and onion. The toasted sesame seeds add extra crunch and nuttiness to the dish.
Directions:
Chop the mushrooms and the vegetables.
In a large bowl, whisk the egg with salt and water, then add the flour, starch, and baking soda, stirring rapidly. You could use chopsticks for this.
Do not mix for too long or you risk the mixture becoming rubbery. Don’t worry if there are some lumps as this is normal with tempura.
For the sauce, finely chop the chili and green onion, grate the ginger, and mix them together with the rest of the ingredients.
In a wok, heat the frying oil over medium-high heat.
Coat the vegetables with the tempura mixture, draining off the excess, and deep fry in small batches. Avoid crowding the wok.
Enjoy!
Vegetable Tempura with Crispy Chili Soy Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 carrot
- 1 parsnip
- 1/2 zucchini
- 1/2 eggplant
- 4 mushrooms
- 1 bell pepper
Tempura batter
- 400 ml cold water
- 250 g flour
- 2 tsp starch
- 1 tbsp baking soda
- 1 egg
- Salt
Sauce
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp vinegar
- 1/2 lime
- 1 chili pepper
- 1 cm grated ginger
- 1 green onion
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- Frying oil
Instructions
- Chop the vegetables.
For the tempura:
- In a large bowl, whisk the egg with salt and water, then add the flour, starch, and baking soda, stirring rapidly. You could use chopsticks for this. Do not mix for too long or you risk the mixture becoming rubbery. Don't worry if lumps remain as this is normal with tempura.
For the sauce:
- Finely chop the chili and green onion, mix them together with the grated ginger, and the rest of the ingredients.
- In a wok, heat the frying oil over medium-high heat.
- Coat the vegetables with the tempura mixture, draining off the excess, and deep fry in small batches. Avoid crowding the wok.
Notes
For more traditional
