Shrimp and Vegetable Tempura Udon
My order from Abokichi finally came in and I was super excited to break it out–I had been following them on Instagram and their chili miso oil looked so good that I had to order some (and a wooden onigiri maker but that’s a post for another day). We woke up to snow this morning so I knew it would be perfect on udon, with crispy tempura and a poached egg. The chili miso oil is delicate and fragrant, cutting through the grease of the tempura and lending an extra kick to an already delicious meal. I can imagine it will be topping a lot of things in the weeks to come.
Ingredients for Tempura
- 1 egg
- 1 cup iced water
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup panko breading
- 2 quarter inch slices eggplant
- 2 quarter inch slices sweet potato
- 2 shrimps, deveined and stretched
- 1/2 cup corn starch
- Enough vegetable oil to cover 2 inches of the bottom of the pot
- 2 tablespoons diced spring onions
- 1 egg, poached
- 1 tablespoon (or more) Abokichi Chili Miso Oil
1. Place the shrimp and vegetables and the corn starch and batter close to the stove for easier frying. To stretch the shrimp for tempura (so it comes out straight), shell and devein the shrimp, leaving the tail on. Make diagonal cuts along the belly of the shrimp on the segments and gentle fold in the opposite direction of the shrimp’s curve. You will feel the membrane pop as it straightens.
2. Heat pot of oil over medium high heat, until the oil sizzles when you drop in a few pieces of panko. Do not allow the oil to smoke or it will discolor your tempura. It should just sizzle and bubble around the batter (and there should be lots of bubble but they should be tiny–if the bubbles are big, your heat is too high), taking some time to reach the golden colored stage. You don’t want the outside to burn while the inside is still raw.
2. Heat pot of oil over medium high heat, until the oil sizzles when you drop in a few pieces of panko. Do not allow the oil to smoke or it will discolor your tempura. It should just sizzle and bubble around the batter (and there should be lots of bubble but they should be tiny–if the bubbles are big, your heat is too high), taking some time to reach the golden colored stage. You don’t want the outside to burn while the inside is still raw.
3. In a bowl, gently beat egg, water, and flour until combined into a thin batter.
4. Coat vegetables in thin dusting of corn starch and then dip in batter. Fry in oil until golden and drain on paper towel.
5. Coat shrimp in thin layer of corn starch, dip in batter, coat with panko breading and fry until golden. Drain on paper towel.
6. Top udon with tempura and other optional toppings. Additional tempura vegetables can be onion, shiso, string bean, potato, broccoli, etc.
Ingredients for Udon
- 1 package Udon noodles
- 1/4 cup prepared Mentsuyu (udon soup base)
- or 5 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon sake
- 1 tablespoon mirin
- 1 teaspoon dashi powder
- 2 cups water
1. Dilute prepared mentsuyu with water or combine soy sauce, sake, mirin, dashi powder, and water in a saucepan and heat until simmering. Pour into large noodle bowl.
2. Cook Udon noodles according to package instructions, until tender. Drain udon and place into soup bowl. Garnish with tempura and other toppings.
Additional Toppings
- 2 tablespoons diced spring onions
- 1 egg, poached
- 1 tablespoon Abokichi Chili Miso Oil
- Sliced mushroom