Shrimp and Vegetable Tempura

Shrimp and vegetable tempura is a staple of all Japanese restaurants, and generally costs almost as much as sushi.  For the price, I'd rather go for the sushi when dining out.  Make tempura at home instead, it's easier and you also have the option to choose the vegetables and fixings you like for it.

Tempura are deep fried pieces of fish or vegetables that have been dipped in batter.  Tempura batter can be made several ways; there are even tempura mixes that you can buy from the grocery stores, but save your money.  I promise making tempura batter is not rocket science.  The recipe I use only calls for four ingredients: ice cold water, sesame oil, all purpose flour, and baking powder.  I find that out of the recipes I know, this is the lightest of all of them, and also vegan-friendly.  

Keep in mind that if you are going to make vegan tempura, you need to either buy or prepare vegan dashi for the dipping sauce later in the recipe, or you may omit the dashi altogether (although I feel that the dashi contributes to that rich umami flavor in the sauce). 

Yields 2 portions
Ingredients
Batter
1 ¼ tsp. baking powder
½ cup all purpose flour
¾ cup ice cold water
½ tbsp. sesame oil

Shrimp and Vegetables (choose your favorites from the list)
10 large shrimp, peeled, deveined, tail on
10 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, cut in half
20 green beans, ends trimmed
1 yam, peeled and sliced ¼-inch thick
1 crown broccoli, divided into florets
1 small daikon, peeled and sliced ¼-inch thick
1 small sweet onion, peeled and sliced into ¼-inch rings
1 zucchini, yellow squash, carrot, or parsnip, cut ¼-inch thick on a sharp angle to make ovals
1 bell pepper, seeds and insides removed, cut lengthwise into ½-inch wide strips
10 asparagus spears, woody ends trimmed off
1 small eggplant, cut in half lengthwise, sliced ¼-inch thick, then salt and let sit for 20 minutes to release bitter juices, rinse and pat dry
  
Dipping Sauce
¼ cup soy sauce
2 tbsp. dashi
2 tbsp. mirin
3 tbsp. daikon, grated
½ tsp. ginger, minced


Directions
1.  In a mixing bowl, combine the flour and baking powder.  In a separate bowl, mix the water and sesame oil together.  Whisk the water-oil mixture into the flour mixture. 

Note: The batter should be very lumpy and very cold.  If you over mix the batter, it will be sticky and and coating will turn out oily and heavy.  Mix the batter with the least amount of movement.

2.  Prepare all of the vegetables as directed.  For the shrimp, after peeling and deveining them, lay them on the board with the slit side up.  Try to carefully massage and break apart the pieces of shrimp by pinching lightly with your thumb and pointer fingers.  This will make the shrimp flat and prevent it from curling when it fries; it is more for presentation than anything else, so if you don't want the extra work, it's perfectly fine to skip it.

I find using a mandolin for the squash, yams, and root vegetables very helpful.  If you don't have one already, you can buy a small cheap one from Bed Bath and Beyond.  If you're willing to shell out the money on a good one, the Japanese mandolins are the sharpest and the French ones are most durable.

3.  Add all of the dipping sauce ingredients to a small pan.  Warm the sauce slightly over low heat then transfer to a bowl or ramekins.

4.  Heat vegetable or frying oil in a pot over medium heat until it hits a temperature of 350 degrees F.  Adjust the heat to maintain this temperature, as it is optimal for deep-frying.   Using your hands, or chopsticks if you don't feel like being messy, coat the vegetables in batter then transfer them to the oil, using a slight dragging motion before letting them go into the oil.  When it has turned golden brown, transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to soak up the excess oil.

The following is a link of my chef at school preparing tempura.  Don't read the comments, there are many who argue about pretty much everything from the lack of instruction to tempura mix and everything in between.  In cooking, there is always more than one way of preparing dishes, this just happens to be the one I prefer.  Cooking Tempura

Serve tempura with short/medium grain rice and dipping sauce.  I like to sprinkle Norigoma Furikake (nori and sesame seeds) on my rice instead of using nori strips since I prefer not to be so fancy at home.  You can also prepare soba noodles according to package directions to serve with the tempura.  You can use soba tsuyu, soba noodle soup base, for dipping cold soba into for more flavor.  

Oh, and if you didn't notice, behind the tempura in the picture is a bottle of Shichi Hon Yari sake.  It is a very earthy sake with mushroom and umami notes to it, which complimented the tempura pretty well, but most warm sake will work well with tempura.  Kanpai!

One last thing, if anyone would like, I would be happy to post recipes for miso soup and romaine lettuce with ginger dressing (both regular and vegan versions), as they are the most common dishes served with entrées at Japanese restaurants.  Have fun cooking guys!

Rabo de Toro

Rabo de toro is a braised oxtail dish from Spain.  This is a recipe that I actually learned in school and fell in love with when I first tasted it there.  To start, let me explain what oxtail is.  Oxtail generally refers to beef or veal tail, as oxtail is not used as much anymore.  Because oxtail can be very tough, it requires long, slow braising  and is often used in soups or stews.  I make this dish more during the fall and winter months because of how hearty it is, but you can easily divide the meat and sauce into smaller portions and serve it alongside tapas all year round.  

I chose to prepare garlic mashed potatoes and wilted spinach as side dishes, but rice and any seasonal vegetables make good side choices as well.  The recipe is as follows.  Also, while I go through the method for the recipe, I will make a few suggestions for home cooking, as I am modifying from recipes that are better suited to restaurant style cooking and equipment. These suggestions will be in italics, but feel free to use what is most comfortable for cooking in your own home.  I will never tell you to purchase expensive gadgets or equipment, unless I feel it will make your life easier.

Yields 5 portions
Ingredients
5 lb. beef oxtail
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, or as needed
2 large onions, small dice
4 plum tomatoes, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, sliced very thin
2 oz. pancetta, diced
¼ cup brandy
½ cup red wine
2 cups brown veal stock
1 bay leaf
1 sprig thyme
¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper, to taste
Chopped flat leaf parsley, to garnish


Directions
1.  Pat the oxtail dry with paper towel and season with salt and pepper.  In a large pot over high heat, add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  Sear the oxtail in the olive oil on all sides, using a pair of tongs to turn the oxtail until it is a nice brown color.  Remove the oxtail from the pan and reserve.
   
For the pot, I would suggest using a rondeau, which is a round pot with two handles, wider in the middle, and shallow sides with a tight fitting lid.  Season the meat to your liking; I use kosher salt at home so that I can actually see and gauge how much salt I use.

2.  Lower the heat to medium and add the pancetta.  Cook the pancetta to crispy, about 3-5 minutes, then add the onions, tomatoes, and garlic.  Cook to a jam-like consistency, stirring occasionally, about 10-15 minutes.
 
If you cannot get pancetta from your deli/butcher, thick cut bacon will work just as well.  This mixture of onions, tomatoes, and garlic is known as a sofrito and is used as the base for many Spanish/Latin dishes.  There are variations of sofrito, this recipe being only one of many.

3.  Add the brandy and cook out the alcohol, then add the red wine and reduce by ¾.  Add the spices and season with salt and pepper.  Add the oxtail and enough brown veal stock to come about halfway up the meat.  Cover and braise the meat over a low simmer until the meat is fork tender and the braising liquid has reduced, about 2½ to 3 hours.  Taste and adjust the seasonings to your liking.  Garnish with parsley and serve with sides.

I generally use Tempranillo wine, but any red wine that you like will do.  Although most people use cheap wine in cooking, we were always taught that if you reduce cheap wine, you wind up with concentrated cheap wine, or as the professors put it, crap.  Use a wine that you yourself would drink on its own and you will be fine.  This technique is actually called mirroring, as we use the same wine in preparing the food and serve the same wine alongside the food.  The food and wine pairing is considered automatic, so to speak.

Although I haven't included any pictures displaying the cooking methods this time, I will be including some in future posts.  Please feel free to make suggestions of your own and ask any questions you'd like as well.  Thanks for reading and enjoy!