Nanbu-age Tempura for Fish, Chicken, or Vegetables

[helenjp]

Nanbu-age Tempura for Fish, Chicken, or Vegetables

This is an extremely versatile type of tempura - the sesame seeds not only ameliorate strongly flavored ingredients such as oily fish or thick slices of onion, they also add extra flavor to bland ingredients such as chicken fillets (beat to flatten slightly) or slices of lotus root.

You may use more sesame seed, or a mixture of black and white sesame seeds, but to serve cold, a thinnish batter and a small number of sesame seeds is particularly attractive.

The batter tastes good cold and without tempura sauce, so this is also a good lunchbox item (include some deepfried negi). Commercial tempura flour is designed to have a reasonable texture when cold, and is useful for making small quantities of tempura.

For New Year, serve with a half-battered chestnut or a kumquat preserved in syrup or shochu (rice spirits).

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Ingredients

• 2 slices fish (unsalted), salmon, mackerel, bonito, etc.
  
• 5 (garnish) preserved chestnuts or kumquats, optional
  
• 1 (garnish) negi (Japanese dividing onion), optional
  

Marinade

• 1 tsp ginger juice, optional
  
• 1 T soy sauce
  
• 1 qt sake (rice wine)
  

Batters

• 5 T flour
  
• 1/2 egg, or 1 egg white, beaten lightly
  
• 100 ml cold water
  
• 1-1/2 T flour (for frying chestnut)
  
• 1-1/2 T cold water (for frying chestnut)
  

Ten-tsuyu (Tempura dip)

• 100 ml dashi stock
  
• 1 T soy sauce
  
• 1 tsp sugar
  
• 1 T mirin
  
• 2 T rice vinegar (or mild vinegar)
  
• salt, to taste
  

oil for deepfrying (canola or sunflower, safflower, not soy)

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* Place fish or chicken with marinade ingredients in Ziploc bag or small tray to marinate 10 minutes or so. (No need to marinade vegetable ingredients).

* Cut negi into 3cm lengths, heat oil to 170degC, deepfry (without batter) till barely colored and drain.

*Make small amount of plain batter.

* Wipe chestnuts, dip bottom half in plain flour/water batter, deep fry till batter crisp. Drain. (Don’t fry kumquats if using).

*Lightly beat egg or eggwhite if using, add cold water (I dump ice and water in a container and then measure out the water required) and mix flour in. Don't overmix.

* Mix sesame batter ingredients, dip fish, deepfry (oil around 180 deg.C)until pale gold, drain.

* If serving immediately, mix Ten-tsuyu ingredients, pour over or serve separately. For lunchbox use, don't make.

* Serve with negi and kumquat or chestnut, as desired.

Keywords: Main Dish, Chicken, Vegetarian, Vegetables, Seafood, Fish, Intermediate, Japanese

( RG2073 )