National Tempura Day

January 7th was National Tempura Day. And so of course we had Tempura for dinner on Friday night.
First, let me say it was fantastic! Second, let me say it made a mess in my kitchen! And third, let me say I had to doctor the recipes quite a bit!
I will be making this again, if for no other reason than to measure better and get a more accurate recipe for my blog. And well, because it really was quite good.

So here are the recipes and a picture...


Tempura Batter by Setsuko Yoshizuka (from about.com)

1 egg
1 cup ice water
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted (I ended up using more flour than this. But I forgot to measure how much, I actually used. So I will be making this again in order to get a more accurate recipe. But if you want to give this a try before I remake it, then just keep adding flour until you get a nice thick batter that will stick to your potatoes, or whatever it is that your making)

Beat an egg in a bowl. Add ice water to the bowl (I did not add the ice just the water). Add sifted flour in the bowl and mix lightly. Be careful not to over mix the batter.
(I doubled this batter recipe because I knew that I was going to be making a lot of food. This batter if very plain and will not add much flavor to your food, that's what they tempura dipping sauce is for, so if your not going to use the dipping sauce you may want to spice up your batter).

Tempura Potatoes by Setsuko Yoshizuka

3-4 potatoes
Tempura batter (see recipe above)
Oil for frying

Peel potatoes and slice to 1/4-inch thick (Next time I make these, I am going to slice the potatoes like steak fries instead of chunks). Soak potatoes slices in water for 15 minutes and drain well. Make tempura batter. Heat the oil to 340 degrees. Dip potatoes in the tempura batter. Deep fry them until crisp (I deep fried them for about 7 minutes). Serve with tempura dipping sauce (recipe at the bottom).
(I also used this same method for making carrots and they were wonderful. I cooked the carrots right along with the potatoes for about 7 minutes. I'm pretty sure you could use this batter on just about anything).

Tempura Shrimp by Setsuko Yoshizuka

12 large shrimp (I used a pound of medium shrimp)
Tempura batter (see first recipe)
Oil for frying

Remove heads and shells from shrimp without removing tails (I can buy my shrimp already like this). De-vein the shrimp. Make two or three incisions on the stomach side of the shrimp to straighten them. Lightly press the back of the shrimp to straighten (this is an excellent photo show that walks you through how to do this). Remove dirt from the tails of shrimp, using a knife. Dry shrimp on paper towels. Make tempura batter. Heat oil to 340 degrees. Flour shrimp before dipping in tempura batter. Dip shrimp in tempura batter. Fry the shrimp until crisp (mine took about 2 to 3 minutes).

Tempura Dipping Sauce from Cooking at a Glance (cooking.com)

3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons orange juice (I used 3 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons dry sherry (since this is not cooked and I was serving it to my children I did not add this)
1 tablespoon green onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon sugar (I used 2 teaspoons sugar)
1 teaspoon sesame seeds (I did not add these)
Few splashes bottled hot chili sauce (I did not add this either)

In a small mixing bowl combine soy sauce, orange juice, sherry (if using), green onion, sugar, sesame seeds, and hot chili sauce. Set aside to use for dipping tempura foods.
(I doubled this recipe and had none leftover, which worked out good because I had no leftovers from this meal at all)

Again, I will say that this was very good. We enjoyed trying this new food and Delaney has requested this for her birthday dinner.
If you do give this a try please let me know how you and your family liked it!

Tyler's Birthday Dinner

So January 6th, was National Shortbread Day and we did not celebrate this day. WHY? you may ask... well, it's not because we do not like shortbread. It's because we are drowning in sweets at our house. We have Caramel Apple Cake, we have Cream Puffs, and we have Lime Cheesecake. So I am going to save the shortbread for another day.

My best friend (Tammy) has asked me to post my Egg Roll recipe and so that is what I'm going to post today.

So here is the recipe and a picture....

Best Egg Rolls by Angela Hamilton (Allrecipes.com)



1 pound ground pork
1 teaspoon ground ginger (I also add another teaspoon to the coleslaw mixture)
1 teaspoon garlic powder (I also add another teaspoon to the coleslaw mixture)
1 quart peanut oil for frying (I don't use peanut oil, I use whatever is already in my deep fryer)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons water
2 cups shredded cabbage
2 ounces shredded carrots
(Instead of using the cabbage and carrots and I just buy a bag of coleslaw mix)
8 egg roll wrappers

Season pork with 1 teaspoon ground ginger and 1 teaspoon garlic powder; mix thoroughly. Heat mixture in a medium skillet, stirring until pork is cooked through and no longer pink. Set aside.
Heat oil to about 375 degrees. While oil is heating combine flour and water in a bowl until they form a paste. In a separate bowl combine coleslaw mix, cooked pork mixture, and I add another teaspoon of ground ginger and garlic powder. Mix all together.
Lay out one egg roll wrapper with a corner pointed toward you, Place about a 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the cabbage mixture on the egg roll wrapper (in the middle) and fold corner up over the mixture. Fold left and right corners toward the center and continue to roll. Brush a bit of the flour paste on the final corner to help seal the egg roll.
Place egg rolls into heated oil and fry, turning occasionally, until golden brown. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels or rack.

These really are quite amazing! If you need me to post a few pictures of how to actually wrap them up let me know. I'll be more than happy to do that!