Go Back
–+ servings

Asparagus Tempura

Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Author Yuto Omura
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients 
 

Tempura Batter (see note)

Serving suggestion (optional)

Instructions 

  • Before you start, chill all of the tempura ingredients thoroughly. Sift 15 g cornstarch and 75 g unbleached cake flour into a bowl and place it in the freezer. Keep 75 ml cold water, 50 ml carbonated water (sealed) and 1 egg yolk in the fridge until right before mixing. (At least 30 minutes)
    Sifting dry ingredients for tempura batter into a mixing bowl
  • Start heating your cooking oil to 170 °C (338 °F). While you wait, wash 8 spears asparagus and pat them dry with kitchen paper. Break off the woody stems, taking about 1cm/ ½ inch off the bottom of the stalks. If you have a small cooking pot, cut each stalk in half.
    breaking the end of asparagus
  • When your oil is almost ready, take a mixing bowl and add the 75 ml cold water, 50 ml carbonated water and 1 egg yolk straight from the fridge. Whisk gently until combined.
    whisking egg yolk and chilled water in a bowl to make tempura batter
  • Take the dry ingredients from the freezer and add them to the egg mixture in 3 additions. Instead of whisking, use chopsticks to draw crosses in the batter until there is no more dry flour. Be careful not to overmix, lumps are fine in tempura batter.
    egg, water and flour in a bowl, drawing crosses in the mixture with chopsticks to make tempura batter
  • If you are making multiple batches or are in a warm environment, add a few ice cubes to the batter.
    tempura batter in a bowl with ice cubes
  • Coat the asparagus in a thin layer of unbleached cake flour. Tap off any excess, too much flour can cause the batter to fall off.
    brushing asparagus with flour using a pastry brush
  • Once the oil is hot, dip the asparagus into the batter and place straight into the pot. Deep fry for 90 seconds or until the bubbles have settled down and the batter is lightly golden.
    dipping flour-coated asparagus into tempura batter and then into hot oil in a Japanese-style tempura frying pot
  • Transfer to a wire rack to drain excess oil.
    3 pieces of asparagus tempura on a wire rack
  • Serve with salt, your favorite dipping sauce, or as part of a larger assortment of tempura. Enjoy!
    dipping asparagus tempura in salt

Notes

Only a few at a time: Cold batter and cold asparagus dropped in together pull 170°C (338°F) straight down, and the batter drinks oil before it sets. Fry in 2 or 3 batches, waiting between them for the oil to recover.
Dry first, then dust thinly: A wet surface or a thick coat of flour both make the batter slide off. Pat the stalks dry, dust lightly, and tap off the excess with your fingers before the batter.
Mix the batter last, and barely: Combine the flour and water only after every other bit of prep is done. Stop the moment no dry flour is visible. Lumps are fine.
Read the bubbles: The big bubbles of the first seconds turn fine, and the frying sound goes high and light. 90 seconds is a guide, and it shifts with the thickness of each stalk.
Avoid bleached cake flour: Bleached or chlorinated cake flour changes the texture. Also avoid self-rising, whole wheat pastry, and gluten-free blends. For UK/AU readers, plain flour works. See flour guide for details.