Recipe - Tempura Vegetables

One fourth cup Warm broth or water
1 tablespoon Sugar
1 One fourth cup Soy sauce
One fourth cup Sake or dry sherry
1 tablespoon Fresh grated ginger
1 tablespoon Sesame oil
1 teaspoon Hot chili oil
2 tablespoon Fresh lemon juice or rice
vinegar

FOR THE VEGETABLES
1 Eggplant (about One half lb)
16 Fresh snow peas; stemmed
One half pound Fresh small mushrooms, like
shitake or oysters, cut in
half
1 small Sweet potato, peeled and cut
into 1/4" slices
1 Bell pepper, green or red,
stemmed, seeded and cut
into 8 slices
Peanut oil for frying
1 Egg yolk
2 cup Icecold water
1/8 teaspoon Baking soda
1 2/3 cup Allpurpose flour

In a small mixing bowl, prepare the dipping sauce: Pour the broth or water
over the sugar and stir to dissolve, Add soy, wine, ginger and oils, and
stir well. Add lemon juice or rice vinegar (more or less to taste) and
divide the sauce among 8 small individual dishes. Preheat oven to 200
degrees F. PLace 8 salad plates in the oven to warm. Place a rack over a
baking sheet, and set aside. Use a vegetable peeler to peel stripes of skin
form the eggplant, leaving on several narrow strips of skin. Halve the
eggplant lengthwise and cut it into 1/4" slices.Wash the slices, pat dry
and place on one end of a large platter. PLace the rest of the prepared
vegetables on the platter. In a stockpot or Dutch oven, heat 3" of oil over
mediumhigh heat while you prepare the batter. In a large mixing bowl, add
the yolk to the water and mix well. Stir int he baking soda; then, sift the
flour in and stir with a wooden spoon. Using chopsticks or wooden tongs,
dip the vegetables in the batter a piece at a time, moving each piece
around to coat well. Maintaining oil at 375 degrees, fry the vegetables a
serving at a time 2 pieces of eggplant, 2 snow peas, 2 mushroom halves,
1 slice sweet potato and 1 slice bell pepper flipping them after 1
minute. Fry on the second side another minute or until lightly golden.
Remove pieces with a mesh strainer tot he prepared baking sheet to drain.
Strain any bits of batter or vegetables from the oil, repeat the process
withthe second serving. When all the serving is placed in the oil, remove
the first batch from the rack to a warmed plate in the oven. Repeat with
remaining servings. Place a dish of dipping sauce on each plate of tempura
vegetables, and serve immediately.

Note: be sure to cut all vegetables into small, even pieces so that they
cook evenly. Snow peasa, mushrooms, eggplant, asparagus and sweet potatoes
are traditional ingredients in Japan, but you can use carrots, bell
peppers, string beans, cauliflower or onion rings as well.

Nutritional info per serving: 285 cal; 14g fat, 30g carb, 9g pro

Source: Miami Herald, 2/15/96 format by Lisa Crawford, 7/14/96
Posted to MMRecipes Digest V3 #196

Date: 14 Jul 96 17:01:07 EDT

From: "Lisabeth Crawford (Pooh)" 104105.1416@CompuServe.COM