Cathy - It seems that people have different ideas about what tempura should be. Gardenguru's (Joe) tempura batter is popular here, and it is with me too, but I consider it heavier and more appropriate for fish and chips. Panko is often sold with tempura recipes, but this is just breaded/fried food in my book. For what "I" consider tempura, my go-to recipe is from Cook's Illustrated shrimp recipe:

Shrimp Tempura - Cooks Illustrated

Ingredients
3 quarts vegetable oil
1 1/2 pounds colossal shrimp, peeled and deveined (8 to 12 per pound), tails left on
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 large egg
1 cup vodka
1 cup seltzer water
Kosher salt

Instructions
1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. In large, heavy Dutch oven fitted with clip-on candy thermometer, heat oil over high heat to 385 degrees, 18 to 22 minutes.

2. While oil heats, make 2 shallow cuts about ü inch deep and 1 inch apart on underside of each shrimp. Whisk flour and cornstarch together in large bowl. Whisk egg and vodka together in second large bowl. Whisk seltzer water into egg mixture.

3. When oil reaches 385 degrees, pour liquid mixture into bowl with flour mixture and whisk gently until just combined (it is OK if small lumps remain). Submerge half of shrimp in batter. Using tongs, remove shrimp from batter 1 at a time, allowing excess batter to drip off, and carefully place in oil (temperature should now be at 400 degrees). Fry, stirring with chopstick or wooden skewer to prevent sticking, until light brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer shrimp to paper towel-lined plate and sprinkle with salt. Once paper towels absorb excess oil, place shrimp on wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet and place in oven.

4. Return oil to 400 degrees, about 4 minutes, and repeat with remaining shrimp.

I agree that joe's batter is heavier...in a good way. Perfect for fish and chips and things like deep fried shrimp served with a sauce. Last night I used it to make Chinese style Lemon Chicken.

However, I do prefer a lighter batter for , especially vegetable tempura....will have to give FOAS's a try.

Here is Joe's recipe imbedded in my Fish and Chips recipe

Halibut Fish And Chips

Servings

NOTES : Gardengurus Tempura batter my fish instructions

1 Cups flour

1/4 Cups Corn Starch

1/4 Tsp salt

1/2 Tsp Sugar

1 Tsp Baking Powder

1 Scant Cup Ice Cold Soda Water ( Club Soda), Maybe Less

Mix flour, cornstarch, salt, sugar, and baking powder.

Add soda water gradually, stirring with a fork, first to create a paste and then until mixture is like a thick pancake batter. Don't make it too thick , it needs to be like a thick pancake batter so add soda slowly.

Heat oil for frying to 375 F - 400 F.

Slice halibut so that filets are no more than 1/2 inch thick and maybe 4 " long . Dry fish filets on paper towels, dry well.

Dip fish in batter, coating completely. Shake off excess.

Fry battered fish until light brown and crispy.

Do not crowd pan, or oil temperature will drop. No more than will cover � of the surface of the oil.

Drain on paper towels.

This post was edited by chase on Wed, Mar 20, 13 at 8:01

I've been making it similar to Cook's Illustrated, except that instead of 1 cup vodka and 1 cup water, I use 2 cups beer, or slightly less. I don't often make shrimp tempura, but I made vegetable tempura frequently, and my favorite vegetable is turnip. It has to be in pieces that are no more than 1/4" thick or else it will not get done, but it has the best flavor to me because it is somewhat peppery. A lot of vegetables are too bland or not crunchy enough.

Lars

Thanks all for posting your recipes and tips. I will be experimenting.

What dipping sauce do you use?

We like this one...
Tempura Sauce

3 Tbl soy sauce
1 Tbl dry sherry ,
2 Tbl rice wine vinegar
1 garlic clove minced
1 Tbl finely chopped green onion
1 Tbl sugar
few drops sesame oil

Mix all ingredients.

This post was edited by chase on Tue, Mar 19, 13 at 21:23

Thanks Chase! I'll try it.

I was going to make tempura tonight with these yummy sounding recipes but the HG had a double-header both went into extra innings so he won't be home until 10:00 or later.

Chase--I am thinking 14 cups of corn starch is a lot could it be 1/4 cup?

Picky, picky, picky....thanks for the catch!!!!

LOL but it could have been cups maybe you have a restaurant.

I found this thread that has good tempura recipes, and so I thought I would revive it and add some recipes of my own, since I made tempura last night, and it did go on into the night, as it took longer than I had expected.

Here's my revised ingredient list for the batter:

• 2/3 cup white flour
  1/3 cup rice flour
  1/4 cup cornstarch
  1/4 tsp salt
  1/2 tsp sugar
  1 tsp baking powder
  1 cup beer (as cold as possible) -- more as needed
  1 egg, optional (my addition)

For the dipping sauce, I used one packet of instant dashi and heated it in one cup water. Then I added 1/4 cup dry white wine, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 tablespoons grated ginger, and 1/4 cup grated daikon off heat. I cheated and used grated ginger from a jar.

The vegetables I used included turnip (my favorite), red bell pepper, asparagus, broccoli, and parsnip.

I had watched a Youtube video in which someone had added egg to the tempura batter, and so I thought I would try that. Kevin thought that the egg made more batter stick to the food and therefore was slightly less crisp or crunchy. I'll omit it next time and see.

One main addition to this recipe is the use of leftover batter to make tenkasu, which I use when I make okonomiyaki. Of course there were a lot of bits that I removed from the pan as I was cooking the food, but then I used the leftover batter and drizzled it into the oil, one tablespoon at a time. Two tablespoons was all that my pan would cook at one time.

After draining on paper towels that were on a metal cooking rack, I transferred them to a bowl to cool further. When cool, I put the tenkasu in a ziplock bag to store in the fridge. If I do not use it in the next two days, I will move it to the freezer, but I do plan to make okonomiyaki this week when my sister is here. The last time I made it, I substituted rice crispies for the tenkasu.

There are other uses for tenkasu, such as Mazesoba (Mazemen), Takoyaki, and Cold Tanuki Udon.