Tempura Moriawase

Ingredients

• 4¼ ozWheat flourfor the batter, plus a little for dusting the ingredients
• 2 tbsppotato starchmakes the coating crisper (optional)
• 1Eggbeaten, measured together with the ice water
• ⅔ cupwaterice-cold, for the batter
• 1 pinchsaltinto the batter
• 2 tbspsakepart of the liquid for the batter (optional)
• 2 tspVinegaralternative to egg, keeps the coating light (optional)
• 4¼ cupsFrying oilat least 3 cm deep in the pot
• 2eggplantsliced, briefly soaked in water and patted dry
• 9Shishito pepperslit lengthwise so the oil does not spatter
• 10½ ozKabocha squashthinly sliced, pre-cooked if desired
• 5¼ ozShrimppeeled, deveined, dusted with flour before frying
• 1 bunchmitsubacut into 2–3 cm pieces, for the kakiage (optional)
• 10shiso leavesfinely shredded into the batter or laid on fish fillets (optional)
• ¾ cupdashibase for the dipping sauce
• 3 tbspsoy saucefor the dipping sauce
• 2 tbspmirinfor the dipping sauce

Method

1. Bring the dashi, soy sauce and mirin to a brief boil in a small pot, then take it off the heat and set the dipping sauce aside; it should still be warm when you serve.
2. Slice the eggplant, let the slices sit in water for a few minutes, then pat them thoroughly dry. Slit the shishito peppers lengthwise so the oil does not spatter. Cut the kabocha into thin slices, or pre-cook it.
3. Peel and devein the shrimp, then score them along the belly so they stay straight; keep about a third of the shrimp back for the kakiage. Cut the mitsuba, if using, into 2–3 cm lengths. Lay everything out within reach so you can work quickly later on.
4. Beat the egg and stir it together with the ice-cold water. Sift the wheat flour with the salt and, if using, the potato starch over the top and fold it through only roughly — streaks of dry flour should still be visible, so do not stir it smooth. If you like, replace part of the liquid with sake.
5. Heat the frying oil at least 3 cm deep in a pot and check the temperature: a drop of batter should rise back to the surface promptly.
6. Dust the ingredients lightly with flour, pull them through the batter and fry them in order of rising temperature — shishito first, then eggplant and kabocha, the remaining shrimp last. Flour the shrimp only just before they go into the oil. Fry just a few pieces at a time.
7. For the kakiage, stir the shrimp you set aside and the mitsuba into the leftover batter, slide bite-sized portions into the oil, turn them once and loosen the centre a little, frying until pale golden brown.
8. Let everything drain briefly against the rim of the pot, blot it on kitchen paper and serve at once with the warm dipping sauce.

Tips and variations

For an egg-free batter, mix flour, starch and salt with water and rice vinegar — halve the vinegar for ingredients that fry only briefly. For a particularly light coating, stir a batter of rice flour with ice-cold sparkling water; a version with a raising agent and egg yolk only rests in the fridge for 30–60 minutes afterwards. White-fleshed fish (kisu) works in place of the shrimp, fried with a shiso leaf laid on top, and finely shredded shiso can also go into the batter. Kabocha can be pre-cooked in the microwave, mashed and shaped into little parcels dipped only halfway into the batter, while slices of bell pepper and chilli make an extra kakiage. Quail in tempura batter is served with a noodle soup made from the cooking liquid. For a sweet version, fry sugared plums in a rice-flour batter with egg and sugar and serve them with a quark cream.