Crispy, Crunchy Tempura Donburi

Measure out your flours and placing them in the freezer. Place your sparkling water in the fridge.

For the dipping sauce, combine the dashi, soy, mirin, and sugar in a small saucepan. Place over a medium heat and bring to a simmer until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

Back to the rice. Drain and return your rice to the saucepan. Cover with 360ml water. Place over a high heat and bring to the boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer, cover with a lid and cook for 12 mins. Turn off the heat, but do not remove the lid, and leave to steam for 15 mins.

For the tempura, begin by preparing your proteins and/or vegetables. For your prawns, if not already prepared, remove the head, shell, and legs, then devein. For your vegetables, the shape you cut these isn’t too important however they should be roughly equal size. See below for a rough guide.

Pour your oil into a large and deep frying pan, it should come halfway up the side of the pan. Place the oil over a medium-high heat, we want it to reach 180°C. Take a tray or plate and line it with parchment paper.

Meanwhile, prepare your batter. Take two mixing bowls, one large and one slightly smaller. Fill the large mixing bowl with ice and place the smaller one inside. Take your flour from the freezer and sieve it into the smaller mixing bowl. Pour the sparkling water into the flour and whisk together until fully incorporated, it should be the consistency of double cream.

Once the oil has reached 180°C it’s time to fry! (If you have a thermometer to check the temperature of the oil then perfect, if not, use the top end of a wooden spoon & place it in the oil. If it bubbles around then the oil is hot enough to fry.)

Working in batches, take your prawns/vegetables and drop them into the batter. Use your chopsticks, or your fingers, to remove from the batter and let any excess batter drip off back into the bowl. Then gently lower into the oil. Fry for 2-3 minutes or until the tempura is a light golden brown and crispy.

Use a slotted spoon, tongs or your chopsticks to remove from the oil and place on a rack to drain. Repeat with the rest of your veggies/prawns, continuing to fry in batches to ensure maximum crispiness.

To serve, get your now cool dipping sauce and pour into two saucers. Any leftover dipping sauce will keep well in the fridge for around a week.

Now take your rice that has been steaming away to perfection and divide between two bowls. Share out your tempura equally, serve alongside the dipping sauce, and enjoy!

Aubergine: Cut into chunks and slice ¾ of the way up them to create a fan effect.
Tenderstem Broccoli: Trim the ends and break into even-sized florets
Sweet Potato: Peel and cut into discs of equal thickness. If the potato is extremely large then slice into half moon discs
Butternut Squash: Peel the squash and scoop out the seeds. Cut in half down the middle lengthways. Slice into discs of equal thickness.
Peppers: Cut into equal-sized slices
Asparagus: Take either end of the asparagus and bend until the woody part breaks naturally
Onion: Peel the onion and cut widthways into thick discs. Separate the discs into rings of 1-2 pieces of onion.
Green Beans: Top and tail each bean.
Spring Onions: Top and tail the spring onion and remove the outer layer. Cut in half lengthways. Shred the spring onion by continuing to slice each half lengthways until you are left with shoestring-like pieces.