Food & Drink
Tempura
天ぷらてんぷらtenpuraA light batter, hot oil and a few seconds of timing
Tempura is seafood and vegetables dipped in a thin batter of flour, egg and cold water and deep-fried until crisp. Introduced through contact with the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, it became a street food in Edo and is now one of the classic dishes of Japanese cuisine.
Deep-frying in batter reached Japan with Portuguese traders and missionaries who arrived in Kyushu from the 1540s, and Nagasaki became the gateway for this and other 'southern barbarian' (nanban) foods. The word tempura is most often traced to Portuguese, though its exact source is debated.
In Edo, tempura became a snack sold at street stalls, where skewered pieces of fish from the bay were fried to order and dipped into a shared sauce. Frying indoors was restricted because of the danger of fire, so it stayed outdoor food for a long time. From the late Edo period onwards, dedicated tempura restaurants turned it into a refined counter cuisine.
The technique
Good tempura depends on a batter that is barely mixed and very cold, so that little gluten forms and the coating stays thin and lacy rather than bready. The ingredients are dusted with flour, dipped and fried briefly in oil at around 170 to 180 °C; delicate vegetables are fried at a lower temperature and seafood at a higher one. The aim is to steam the ingredient inside its crisp shell.
In the Edo tradition, sesame oil is used, alone or blended, giving darker tempura with a nutty aroma. Kansai cooks prefer lighter oils such as cottonseed or rapeseed and a paler, more delicate result. At a tempura counter the chef fries each piece and places it on paper in front of the guest, who eats it at once.
Ingredients
Classic Edomae tempura uses small fish and shellfish from the bay, such as prawns, whiting (kisu), conger eel (anago) and small gobies. Vegetables change with the seasons: sweet potato, pumpkin, aubergine, shiitake, shishito peppers, lotus root, and in spring wild mountain plants (sansai) such as fukinotō butterbur buds.
Ebi
海老ebiPrawns, the best-known tempura ingredient; the heads are often fried separately.
Kisu
鱚kisuJapanese whiting, a delicate white fish typical of Edomae tempura.
Anago
穴子anagoConger eel, often fried whole as a highlight near the end of a course.
Sansai
山菜sansaiWild mountain vegetables of spring, such as butterbur buds or fern shoots, often served as tempura.
Kakiage
かき揚げkakiageA fritter of small shrimp and shredded vegetables fried together.
Tempura dishes
Tempura is eaten on its own, as part of a set meal (tempura teishoku) or combined with rice and noodles. Leftover crumbs of fried batter are also used as a topping.
Tendon
天丼tendonTempura on a bowl of rice, drizzled with a sweet soy sauce.
- 天ざるtenzaru
Cold soba or udon served with tempura on the side.
Tempura soba
天ぷらそばtenpura sobaHot soba in broth topped with prawn tempura or kakiage; an Edo-period combination.
Tencha
天茶tenchaTempura on rice with hot green tea or dashi poured over it.
Tenkasu
天かすtenkasuCrunchy batter crumbs, used on udon, soba and okonomiyaki; called agedama in Kansai.
Regional meanings
In much of western Japan, and especially in Kyushu, the word tempura also refers to fried fish paste without batter, known elsewhere as satsuma-age after the old province of Satsuma, today Kagoshima Prefecture. The two foods are unrelated in technique, and visitors ordering 'tempura' at a Kagoshima market may receive fish cakes.
- 薩摩揚げsatsuma-age
Deep-fried cakes of seasoned fish paste, called tsukiage in Kagoshima and tempura in parts of western Japan.
How tempura is eaten
Tempura is eaten hot, straight from the fryer; waiting spoils the crispness. It can be dipped in tentsuyu, a warm sauce of dashi, soy sauce and mirin with grated daikon radish mixed in, or sprinkled with salt, sometimes flavoured with matcha or yuzu. At a counter the chef may recommend which to use for each piece; light vegetables and white fish are often best with salt.
It is usual to eat pieces in the order in which they are served, starting with the lighter items. Tempura is rarely eaten with soy sauce alone.
Tentsuyu
天つゆtentsuyuDipping sauce of dashi, soy sauce and mirin.
Daikon oroshi
大根おろしdaikon oroshiGrated white radish, added to the sauce to cut the richness of the oil.
Koromo
衣koromoThe batter coating; literally 'garment'.
Timeline
1543 onwards
Portuguese traders reach Japan; frying techniques arrive through Nagasaki and Kyushu.
1616
According to a popular tradition, Tokugawa Ieyasu falls ill after eating fried sea bream shortly before his death.
18th century
Tempura on skewers is sold at street stalls in Edo.
19th century
Tempura soba and specialised tempura restaurants appear in Edo.
20th century
Tempura counters develop into a refined dining style alongside sushi.
Frequently asked questions
Is tempura Japanese or Portuguese?
The technique of frying in batter came to Japan through contact with the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, but the light, thin-battered tempura known today was developed in Japan, mainly in Edo.
Should tempura be dipped in soy sauce?
Tempura is normally dipped in tentsuyu, a lighter sauce based on dashi, or sprinkled with salt. Plain soy sauce is too strong and makes the batter soggy.
Why is tempura batter kept cold?
Ice-cold water and minimal mixing prevent gluten from forming, so the batter fries into a thin, crisp shell instead of a thick, bready coating.
What is the difference between tempura and kakiage?
Tempura usually coats single pieces of fish or vegetable. Kakiage is a type of tempura in which small shrimp and shredded vegetables are fried together as a fritter.
Related
Sources
- 1.和食文化の保護・継承 (opens in a new tab) — 農林水産省 (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries)
- 2.Japan National Tourism Organization – Official travel guide (opens in a new tab) — JNTO