Saturday, January 12, 2008

Niki's Lacy Tempura

Moo, Niki and I worked hard to create a tempura recipe that would enable us to create a light and lacy tempura. We experimented with many ingredients, temperatures and combinations. This is one of our better creations. Great with shrimp and vegetables.

1 pound shrimp, shelled, deveined and flattened
2 eggs
1 cup very cold water
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
10 ice cubes
4 T very cold water
Olive oil

Tempura Dipping Sauce #1
1 cup beef broth
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sherry
Sprinkle a little minced ginger on each individual bowl of dipping sauce

Dipping Sauce #2 (not traditional but very good)
1 T dry mustard
1/4 cup catsup
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 T water

Once you have cleaned and prepared the shrimp, store them in the refrigerator until you're ready to cook. To make the batter, beat eggs with very cold water. Sift together flour, cornstarch and salt. Beat this mix into the liquid (this is not a lumpy batter). Because you want the batter to be very cold when you drip shrimp and/or vegetables into the hot oil, add 10 ice cubes to the batter and set the batter bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice.

Pour enough olive oil into a sauce pan to deep fry shrimp. Heat oil to 375 degrees. And it will be important for you to maintain a steady heat.

With your left hand dip into the lace batter and shake it into the hot oil. With right hand, dip a cold shrimp into the main batter and roll it onto the lace. Cook until golden

For lace, place 1 cup of batter into a smaller bowl. Stir in 4 T of very cold water.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I see that this particular page/post is from 2007, and I hope I can still reach you. I looked this page up due to your mother's artwork. My mother had a book of children's poetry and this was the Wynken, Blynken and Nod illustration used in it. I adore it. It is one of the very few pieces of art (granted its an illustration, it should be framed and honored) that brought tears to my eyes from beauty. I've tried for years to get a print of it, and I can't find one. Was there ever a place or company that carried them? Could I get one from you? Please let me know. Your mother's work was, and is, just beautiful to me.

Thank you for your time,
Kathleen
lurnbyxample@yahoo.com