What you need to know about eating Tempura

Of the many popular Japanese dishes out there, one that stands out is tempura - but what exactly is tempura? How do you eat it? When you come to Japan, you're sure to want to try it, so let's take a closer look at tempura.

Source The spruce eats

Tempura is the name for dishes that have been dipped in a mixture of cold water, flour and egg then fried in oil. Because there are eggs in the mixture, some might assume that tempura are like fritters, where the egg whites are whipped, but this is not the case.

The ingredients vary by the season, but in general edible plants, vegetables, shrimp, squid, Japanese whiting, and other types of seafood are used in tempura.

Source andrewzimmern.com

Though tempura is considered a model of Japanese cooking, the root of the word "tempura" is theorized to have come from the Portuguese "tempero" (cooking) or Spanish "templo" (temple) which spread to Japan via foreign missionaries. Tempura came through Japan during the Edo era, where "fast, cheap, delicious" fast foods for the masses became popular.

Tempura flavoring is up to you

Tempura is most commonly eaten with 'ten-tsuyu' - a dipping sauce made from dashi soup stock, soy sauce, and mirin (sweet rice wine). It's also quite common to add grated ginger or grated Japanese daikon radish to ten-tsuyu; both grated ginger and daikon radish add a refreshing edge to deep fried foods.

Homemade Japanese Tempura Batter for Shrimp, Chicken, Fish, Vegetable
Source How daily

Other than ten-tsuyu, in order to really taste the basic ingredients of the dish, tempura may be eaten with just a sprinkling of salt. Recently flavored salts have become popular, such as matcha salt (salt with green tea powder mixed in), curry salt (salt with curry spices), even novel flavors such as yuzu citrus peel or powdered Japanese pepper salts.

And, in small amounts, citrus juices squeezed from lemons or sudachi (similar to a lime) are also great with tempura. There are some people who eat tempura with just soy sauce, Worchester sauce... The flavoring choice is entirely up to you. Half the fun of eating tempura is trying different patterns and matching the ingredients to the best flavors.

The Simple Tempura Menu

While you can eat tempura by itself, there are many other dishes which include tempura in them.

A bowl of rice with tempura - Source Chopstick Chronicles

Ten-don is a bowl of rice with tempura on top that has had a sauce of concentrated soy sauce, dashi and mirin poured over it; this is a popular type of donburi (*1) dish. Donburi with the tempura mixed into half-scrambled eggs are also popular.

"Ten soba", "ten udon" are dishes where tempura rests on top of thin buckwheat noodles (soba) or on thick flour noodles (udon). "Ten musu" are shrimp tempura that have been wrapped in onigiri (*2), allowing you to enjoy rice and tempura at the same time.

Read more: Get to know about Wagashi, the Japanese traditional sweets

Source Sakanaya - Champaign

Paired with the staples of rice or noodles as a side dish or on its own, tempura is a simple but somewhat fancy dish that is commonly enjoyed for lunch by the Japanese.

*1 Donburi: one dish Japanese meal featuring rice underneath a variety of toppings; the 'don' or porcelain bowl is typically bigger than the usual rice-only bowl.
*2 Onigiri: cooked white rice with a filling, shaped into a tube or a triangle which may or may not be wrapped with roasted seaweed on the outside.

Table manner when eating Tempura

When eating tempura at a restaurant, one of the most important things to keep in mind is the order of eating each piece. When several pieces of tempura are included on one plate, it is standard for the lighter-types (vegetables, shrimp, Japanese whiting) to be placed in front of the heavier-types (such as anago eel). It is recommended to eat the tempura from the front toward the back, as it's believed that the flavors will grow deeper in this manner.

Source The Ranting Panda

If you would like to try something a bit more luxurious, you might like to visit a tempura shop with a counter where the chef prepares the dishes one by one, right before your eyes; you can eat the dishes while they are piping hot too. At this sort of shop, however, it is also very important to keep an eye on when you order and eat each piece.

Tempura is at its most delicious when it is freshly made. No matter how fresh the ingredients are, once tempura has become cold, the crispiness of the batter is lost, so please make sure to enjoy it while it's hot.

Read more: Savor the best of Japanese beef with these dishes

Source matcha-jp

The tasty dishes made from tofu in China

Tofu, also known as bean curd, is a food of Chinese origin. It is made from soy milk, water and a curdling agent. The production of tofu from soy milk is similar to that of producing cheese from milk. It is made by coagulating soy milk, then pressing the resulting curds into blocks.

There is a wide variety of tofu, which can be split into two main categories as fresh tofu produced directly from soy milk, and processed tofu processed in some way from fresh tofu.

Stinky Tofu 

Image: Josephine Lim

This smelly tofu is a kind of snack with a strong odor described as rotten or fecal. Blocks of soft tofu are fermented in a unique brine, and then fried till the rind becomes crisp, and are usually served with sweet sauce, soy sauce or spicy sauce.

Mapo Tofu

Mapo tofu is a Sichuan specialty, typically made with tofu, various aromatics, oil, broth, and beef. The last two ingredients are meaty, sure, but do they have to be? You can make a vegan version that is just as satisfying. The key adaptations are replacing the meat-based broth with a soy-and-mushroom concoction and subbing a mix of fresh and dried mushrooms for the beef.

Dried Tofu 

This extra firm tofu contains the least amount of moisture of all fresh tofu. It is usually pressed very flat and sliced into long strings, which look like loose cooked noodles, and can be served cold or stir-fried.

Read more: 5 noodle dishes you must try in Shanghai, China

Silken Tofu

Silken tofu is the softest type of tofu. Some are so soft they crumble as soon as they make contact with chopsticks. It is by far my favorite type because of the texture and subtle sweet and nutty flavor.

Source Internet

Street foods that you must try in Hong Kong

Once in Hong Kong, you’ll find that the city’s street-food hawkers have drawn loyal followers from all walks of life. Here’s some street foods you have to try on your next visit to Hong Kong.

Spicy fish balls

Without a doubt, the ultimate hero of Hong Kong’s hawker food is the curried fish ball. They are made from fish meat compressed into bite-sized balls which are then deep fried and smothered in a curry sauce. Though the neo-fluorescent glow of the curry sauce may be off-putting to some, trust the crowds. Hong Kongers know what they’re eating.

Egg waffle

Largely considered the gastronomic symbol of Hong Kong’s thriving street-food scene, the egg waffle is so popular, it has become an institution in and of itself. Though it was traditionally cooked above a charcoal fire, the egg waffle has since been through numerous different incarnations. There are now dozens of flavours and varieties available in Hong Kong.

Grilled calamari

The heaving metropolis we now call Hong Kong grew from humble beginnings as a fishing village. Street food has helped to preserve this history, and still offers a vast array of catches from the surrounding waters. One such delicacy is grilled squid, cooked simply with a touch of soy sauce. Its simplicity is typical of Cantonese cooking, where additional sauces and spices are used to enhance, rather than cover, the inherent taste of the main ingredients.

Pork rind

The pork rind served at Hong Kong’s street food stalls are essentially pork scratchings that have been steamed instead of fried. They are then coated in a thick curry sauce and topped off with a touch of chilli, adding rich flavours to the light and springy texture of the pork rind.

See more: All about the signature food of Asians, Stinky Tofu

Source: Internet