Name: Vegetable Tempura
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 1 cup dashi; ¼ cup soy sauce; ¼ cup mirin; 8 ounces daikon, peeled thickly, so you can see the radish's translucent flesh; ½-inch piece ginger (about 1 ounce), peeled; 2 egg yolks; 2 cups cold water; ¼ cup ice cubes; 2 cups cake flour; 1 pound vegetables, sliced on an angle into bite-size pieces; ½ cup cake flour; 2 quarts vegetable oil; 1⁄4 cup toasted sesame oil; Chopsticks, a metal strainer, candy thermometer, and a Dutch oven or large cast-iron skillet

A platter of mixed vegetable tempura with dipping sauce.

Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton

Use any combination of vegetables for tempura, including lotus root, broccoli, kabocha squash, pumpkin, eggplant, sweet potato, shiitake and any other mushrooms, carrot, zucchini, okra, broccoli, peppers, and asparagus—the list is as long as the vegetables available at your market. You can also use tender leaves like shiso. With leaves, batter only one side and fry quickly for about 30 seconds.

Recipe notes

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