I decided to play around with the classic tempura. Mainly I wanted to know if certain things will taste good after having undergone the batter and heat treatment, some I know will work, some will be a fun experiment.
Here we go:
Apple, pear, onion, kabocha, shrimp, green beans, carrot, zucchini, sweet potato, broccoli, Shitake mushroom.
The Kabocha required some additional prepping
Hard in general, I gave it a quick round in a water bath in the microwave to soften it up.
The ingredients are reaaaady~
Oh, the sauce. Water, Mirin, Soy Sauce, Sugar, Dashi, and Grated Dikon Raddish (not pictured)
The beautiful result
Thoughts:
- Apple - Interesting, it was crunchy on the outside but mushy inside as if I was eating apple pie
- Pear - Not bad, but not an improvement on just plain pear
- Sweet Potato - was there any doubt?
- Zucchini - meh
- Kabocha - better than Sweet potato!
- Avacado - a last minute look in the fridge and this came to mind. OMG! I'm in love! It was crunchy outside and buttery softness inside. So DELICIOUS!
- Carrot - I enjoyed it
- Green Beans - it was good
- Broccoli - hard to fry and know when it's done without it burning
- Onion - It was like a lightly battered onion ring. Yum!
- Shitake - meh, good but not stellar
- Shrimp - Yum. I presalted and peppered it so it was flavorful even before dipping in the sauce
