Prawn & Vegetable Tempura

Gizzi: “The idea is that such a light batter doesn’t absorb nearly the amount of oil as normal fish and chips. Plus you will be eating better veggies for you that absorb less oil too, and not eating the sugary and fatty sauces.”

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

  • 12 large tiger prawns, peeled with tail ends kept on
  • 1 small sweet potato, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
  • 1 red pepper, deseeded and sliced into 8 wedges
  • 1 small red onion, peeled and cut into 4 thick rounds
  • 8 asparagus stalks, trimmed
  • 1 courgette, sliced into rounds
  • 2 litres groundnut oil for deep frying
  • 240g of cooked sushi rice to serve

For the dipping sauce

  • 1 cm ginger, peeled and finely grated
  • 2 spring onions, finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 2 tbsp mirin

For the tempura batter

  • 85g plain flour
  • 1 tbsp cornflour
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 200ml ice cold sparkling water

METHOD

How to make prawn and vegetable tempura

1. Firstly make the dipping sauce by mixing all the ingredients together.

2. Mix together the batter ingredients in a bowl but be sure not to over mix to ensure a really light batter. You’re better off having a lumpy batter than a tough one. The batter needs to be kept really cold too so add some ice cubes if you’re worried and only make it when you can use it immediately.

3. Fill a deep fat fryer, very deep saucepan or wok one-third of the way up with oil. Test the temperature by adding a small piece of bread. It’s hot enough when the bread browns in 30 seconds.

4. One by one, plunge the prawns and veggies into the tempura batter, then drop them into the hot oil. Fry for one minute or until crisp and golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper before serving immediately.