Shrimp Tempura recipe

[bif]

http://cookingwiththemark.blogspot.com

Ingredients
1 pound shrimp, shelled and deveined
1/2 c tempura batter
2 c panko bread crumbs

Dipping sauce
1/2 c reduced sodium soy sauce
1 T rice vinegar
1 t sesame oil
dash of black pepper

Directions
Add water to tempura until it's the consistency of a thin pancake batter. Dip shrimp in batter, then coat with panko. Fry in vegetable oil over high heat until lightly browned. Serve with dipping sauce.

[hollysmom]

1. sounds delish

would that I could buy shrimp with a clear conscious and no fear. any suggestions of localities to buy from?

[bif]

2. I only buy Gulf shrimp

I don't know where you live, but in the Midwest, Kroger's carries wild-caught Gulf shrimp in the freezer section.

[hollysmom]

3. not to be annoying, I used ot uy gulf shrimp, but rumor has it

they have 3 eyes now. am I being suckered by the media?
i love all kinds of seafood, but right now I am only eating flounder and other fish from Iceland. I think this is all messing with my head.

But nice of you to post a recipe I want to try.

[Kali]

4. you can do tempura with chicken and lots of different vegetables too

[Warpy]

5. Tempura batter needs to be ice cold

and I used to put cracked ice into mine. Club soda can also lighten it up considerably. I've even done a successful whole grain tempura by using cracked ice. I've heard of people using beer, but that just gets you a beer batter that clashes with a good dipping sauce.

Instead of rice vinegar, I used the Chinese black vinegar, a dash of hot pepper oil, and some chopped scallions.

I never used panko, that sort of defeats the whole tempura idea of fish/shrimp and veg, coated with a feathery light and crunchy batter that will get its flavor from the soy/vinegar dipping sauce.

I used to go to a place in Boston called the Kyoto Hut, an incredible Japanese place in a bad area near Symphony Hall. I've managed to duplicate much of what I ate there except some of their pickled vegetable. I've gotten close, but no cigar.

ETA: Gulf shrimp caught outside the spill area are just fine. In fact, I'd rather eat them than tiger prawns grown in filth in Asia.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

7. I agree with you on the panko

When I make sweet and sour pork, I use tempura batter for the pork. Gives a much better result than the standard thick, heavy batter. One thing you might try is putting some cayenne in the batter to give it a bit of heat.

[Warpy]

8. Hot pepper oil in the dipping sauce

takes care of all the heat. If you've ever been to a tempura bar, you know the real thing is light as a feather, crunchy, and utterly tasteless. That's what I worked at duplicating--and did.

[locks]

6. I love the big butterfly shrimp

as tempura but the price is so high here (and for all fish) that I rarely buy it. Once in a while I go to a Japanese restaurant just for the butterfly shrimp and vegetables.