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–+ servings

Asparagus Tempura

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

Ingredients 
 

  • 8 stalks asparagus
  • cooking oil neutral flavor for deep frying
  • cake flour or starch for dusting

Tempura Batter (see note)

  • 75 ml cold water chilled
  • 50 ml carbonated water chilled
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 15 g cornstarch
  • 75 g cake flour
  • ice cubes

Serving suggestion (optional)

  • salt

Instructions 

  • Before you start, chill all of the tempura ingredients thoroughly. Sift 15 g cornstarch and 75 g 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 stalks 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 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

  • Although salt or tentsuyu are commonly served with Japanese tempura for dipping, this recipe also goes great with other dipping sauces.
  • This recipe is likely to have leftover tempura batter. Leftovers can be used for other ingredients such as shrimp, eggplant, sweet potato etc. You can also make your own tenkasu (tempura flakes) to serve with udon and soba.
  • For best results, fry other ingredients in separate batches of the same ingredients.
  • The egg yolk can be replaced with 2 tsp of egg mayonnaise (this is convenient if you want to half the recipe and use 1 tsp mayonnaise instead of half an egg yolk).
  • If you're looking for an eggless tempura batter, check out my shojin age recipe.
  • Serve Asparagus Tempura as an appetizer, side or with tempura rice bowl (tendon), kake udon or zaru soba.