Some dishes can feel exclusively available in restaurants, but vegetable tempura isn’t one of them! Get fresh, flaky vegetable tempura (and the pride of a new culinary skill!) straight from your kitchen. The key to a perfect batch of homemade tempura is ice-cold water, sifted flour and piping-hot oil. This recipe also offers approximate cook times for each vegetable – helpful tips for first-time fryers. Feeling extra confident with your new skill? Try using the batter with other foods, like meat or seafood substitutes. Whatever you decide to fry, this dipping sauce makes the perfect accompaniment. Fry a batch to treat yourself and your family.
Vegan Vegetable Tempura
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 6
Calories 381 kcal
Ingredients
- 3 cups vegetable oil
- 2 Tbsp. untoasted sesame oil
- 1 cup all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
- 1 cup water cold
- 8 asparagus
- 1 small sweet potato thinly sliced
- 1 large carrot halved & thinly sliced
- 5 shishito peppers
- 4 bok choy stems halved
Sauce
- 3/4 cup kombu dashi (dried kelp broth) or vegetable broth
- 3 Tbsp. tamari sauce
- 2 Tbsp. mirin
- 1 tsp. light agave
Instructions
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In pot or saucepan, preheat oil to 330 degrees F. Prepare baking sheet with paper towels and cooling rack.
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For tempura batter, sift 1 cup flour into bowl. Pour in water, and stir for 20 seconds. (Note: Flour lumps are OK. Don’t over mix.)
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Dust vegetables with remaining flour and dip into tempura batter. Let excess batter drip off vegetables, then place into oil, leaving sufficient space to fry.
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Fry until lightly crispy, turning regularly to ensure even cooking.
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Cook sweet potatoes 3 minutes, bok choy 1 minute, carrots 3 minutes, asparagus 2 minutes, kabocha squash 3 minutes, shiitake mushrooms 1 minute, eggplant 1 minute, shishito peppers 40 seconds and shiso leaves 40 seconds.
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For sauce, stir together broth with sauce ingredients.
Recipe Notes
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Nutrition facts information is slightly inaccurate due to excess frying oil.
- To make dashi broth for sauce, combine 3/4 cup water with 2.5 grams kombu (measured with kitchen scale). Leave covered 3-4 hours.
- To create crispy outside texture without mushy inside texture, coat vegetables just lightly with batter.
- Remove crumbs between cooking to avoid burnt pieces.
- Shop these ingredients and more at Vitacost.com.
Nutrition Facts
Vegan Vegetable Tempura
Amount Per Serving (1 g)
Calories 381
Calories from Fat 180
% Daily Value*
Fat 20g31%
Saturated Fat 12g60%
Polyunsaturated Fat 3g
Monounsaturated Fat 4g
Sodium 1097mg46%
Potassium 1678mg48%
Carbohydrates 44g15%
Fiber 10g40%
Sugar 13g14%
Protein 13g26%
Vitamin A 32226IU645%
Vitamin C 260mg315%
Calcium 623mg62%
Iron 6mg33%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.