Sunday 30 January 2022

Tempting Tempura: Typical Japanese Food?

While COVID cases in the UK seem to have peaked, the situation here in Japan is getting worse by the day - Tokyo had over 17,000 cases yesterday, a massive increase from the beginning of January when there were less than a 100. As a result, we are now in the rather strangely termed "quasi/semi state of emergency" (まん延防止=man'en bōshi shortened to manbō by most Japanese) which literally means "prevention of the spread of disease." All this really signifies is that restaurants are "encouraged" to close by 9:00pm and limit the serving of alcohol (with subsidies for those that cooperate). Most do cooperate, and bring in their noren early (a noren is short curtain hung at the entrance signifying they are open - white letters on blue in the picture). Luckily, I did manage to enjoy eating out over the winter holiday and seeing as food posts always seem to be the most popular - the number one all-time post is my one on wagyu - this time I thought I'd talk a little about tempura and my visit to a tempura-ya, a specialised tempura restaurant.

Three kinds of tempura (left  to right): shrimp, kakiage (mixed fritter), and ayu (sweetfish)

Although tempura is usually thought of as a "typical" Japanese food, the concept of deep frying in oil was actually introduced by the Portuguese in the 16th century. During the Edo Period, tempura - battered deep-fried fish and vegetables - was a popular street food, and today it is everywhere: from cheap supermarkets to high class kaiseki restaurants. 

The tempura batter must be freshly mixed using ice-cold water, flour, and egg yolks to give a fluffy, airy texture (recipe here). The ingredients are then cooked at a relatively low temperature for a short time usually in sesame oil. Once done, tempura should be eaten immediately either by dipping in tentsuyu (天つゆ), a light sauce made of dashi broth, mirin, and soy sauce (with added grated daikon radish and ginger as in the picture below) or by dipping in salt: the restaurant I went had three different types of salt, natural, herb, and moshio (藻塩), the latter a kind of traditional salt made from burning seaweed. The salt option is apparently more popular in the Kansai area - and also more popular amongst tempura connoisseurs. Watching the chef work non-stop, memorising orders, making new batter, and frying the various ingredients - eggplant, shiitake mushrooms, pumpkin, white fish, shrimp, sweet potato, lotus root - to crispy perfection was fascinating. It was also interesting to see him occasionally fishing out tenkasu (crunchy bits of fried batter floating in the oil) using an ami-jakushi (網杓子) mesh scoop.

As a final aside, I would like to note that from this year comments are open! I'm going to get the ball rolling by writing my personal opinion down and hopefully readers will follow up with theirs! So what is your favourite Japanese food - and what other foods would you like me to cover? As well as wagyu mentioned earlier, I've also covered sukiyaki, yakiniku, takoyaki, oden, curry rice, grilled eel, sushi, and gyūdon. Did I miss anything? Let me know in the comments (click on "X comments:" after "Posted by Chris Burgess at 12:29" right below!).

16 comments:

Chris Burgess said...

Welcome to the new comments section! Thanks for reading this month's post. I've been in Japan so long it's difficult to name my favourite foods but I' d have to say that my go-to Japanese comfort foods would have to be unagi (grilled eel) and tonkatsu (deep-fried breaded pork fillets). In the past, I would have also added yakiniku (grilled meat) and sukiyaki to that list but these days I'm trying to cut back on the beef - and besides, without beer (which I've also given up) these are just not the same! So what are your favourite Japanese foods - and are there any you'd like me to write about? Do let me know!

Unknown said...

No beer!? I hope everything is ok. I have too many favorite foods to name. Right now though I would like to eat that... Whatever it's called soba served on the roof tile from that onsen in Yamaguchi-ken. Preceded by a bath in their outdoor pool aaahhh

Chris Burgess said...

Good call - Kawara-soba! Fried green tea soba noodles served on a roof tile!! I certainly remember eating those together - accompanied by rather a lot of beer if memory serves.

Chris Burgess said...

https://www.japan.travel/en/sg/story/cooked-on-a-roof-tile-yamaguchis-unique-kawara-soba/

Ed said...

Another great post, thanks for allowing comments!
"Once done, tempura should be eaten immediately..." - but through a process of slow nibbling, right? I'd be interested in your take on slow eating in Japan.

Unknown said...

Hi Chris. My mouth is watering as I love tempura batter. I buy tempura prawns and eat them with teryaki sauce. My Granddaughter Darcy also loves them. I may have a go at making the batter from the recipe link although it's too easy to buy ready done ones ! I'm doing Dry January at the moment and haven't had an alcoholic drink since 31st December. I haven't really missed it either but may have a Prosecco on February 1st to celebrate . Take care and stay away from covid ! x

Chris Burgess said...

Tempura is also a great way to get kids to eat vegetables - pumpkin, sweet potato, and shiitake mushrooms are the classics but carrots and asparagus are also great! Maybe try with a small cup of sake on February 1st?

Chris Burgess said...

Thanks Ed - and thanks for encouraging me to open up comments and make things a little more interactive. As for "slow eating", there are some foods that need to be eaten quickly - ramen and some other noodles for example expand over time (though the Japanese say "nobiru" meaning "stretch" or "get longer"!). Another saying is that food should be eaten while hot - my wife still shudders at the memory of going to a BBQ in Australia where they cooked the food outside and then brought it inside to eat at the dining table (by now stone cold!),
But if you're talking about the slow food movement itself, eating local produce coupled with a strong consciousness of what foods are in season has long been a thing in Japan.

Ms. Bean said...

いつもブログを楽しく拝読しています。日本食と言えば納豆。最近はおにぎりやおみそ汁が外国で広まっているようなので、次は納豆が世界に飛び出していってほしいです。ちなみに、今は「空前の唐揚げブーム」だそうです。天ぷらもおいしいですが、ちょっと高級なイメージがあるかも。次はぜひ、庶民の味「唐揚げ」の記事を!

Chris Burgess said...

Thank-you Ms Bean! It’s lovely to get a comment in Japanese too - a bit of practice for the non-Japanese readers! Natto - fermented soy beans - is probably my least favourite Japanese food, but I may have to bite the bullet (and hold my nose!) and do a post on it. Somehow I don’t think it’s likely to spread abroad in the same way that onigiri rice-balls and miso soup have!! As for kara-age (fried chicken), I didn’t know there was a big boom underway at the moment so that’s definitely something I should cover - anything to put off the fermented soy bean post for a while!

Richard said...

Excellent post Chris! Love the fact that Japanese have a word for "crunchy bits of fried batter floating in the oil". Are there any other Portuguese influences in Japan's cuisine, or general culture? Stay safe.

Chris Burgess said...

Thanks for taking the time to read and comment Rich. Great question too! The Portuguese were the first Europeans to visit Japan and a stream of "Southern barbarian" (nanban) merchants and Jesuit missionaries (including Francis Xavier) had a ton of influence on all aspects of Japan from firearms and Christianity to language and of course food. In terms of food, sugar in cooking was one interesting influence; even today, sponge cake is called kasutera (Castela) and small star shaped coloured sweets are known as konpeitō (confeito). Bread (pan in Japanese) and pumpkin (kabocha) are also from Portuguese! Sounds like a potential post in the making...

Anonymous said...

Great post:) I personally love noodles, udon is great especially this time of the year, and cold soba and somen in the summer. Even the packaged instant stuff is better in Japan

Kohaku said...

Hello Chris, You say you don't like natto, How do you like nukazuke (a kind of pickles made in rice bran)? It's very good hashiyasume(chopstick rest?)for Japanese food. Cucumber nukazuke is best for me. I keep nuka in the refrigerator and put cucumber twice a week. Maybe a good husband?!?

Chris Burgess said...

Yes, Japan is certainly a noodle lover's delight and they come in all shapes and sizes. Hiyashi-chūka (冷やし中華) - chilled ramen noodles with various toppings - is a summer staple. And yes, instant noodles are much tastier than their British equivalent. Check out my post on Chicken Ramen, the world's first instant noodles, for more!

Chris Burgess said...

Japanese pickles - great suggestion Kohaku! I'm actually not a big pickle (tsukemono) fan either - too much salt in the Japanese diet already! - but I do rather like the red crunchy pickles (fukujinzuke=God of Fortune pickles?!?) that come with curry rice. My mother-in-law makes her own salted pickles using aubergine, but nukazuke is on a whole different level. Correct me if I'm wrong, but these are pickles fermented in a live rice bran culture which typically needs stirring every day with bare hands, right? Is it true that the nuka-bed culture is even passed down from generation to generation? Finally, the phrase hashiyasume (literally chopstick holiday!) is a great one - this refers to a palate cleansing side dish, often one that is served between courses. Not quite sure why this is called a "chopstick holiday" - chopsticks still required!