Servings: 4
Crispy Sweet Potato Tempura さつまいもの天ぷら
Crispy and delicious sweet potato tempura with a flavorful dipping sauce is the perfect appetizer or side dish!
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Tempura
- 1 medium sized sweet potato
- ⅓ cup all purpose flour (or 50g/1.8oz)
- ⅓ cup icy cold water (or 75ml/2.5fl oz)
- 1 tbsp Japanese mayo *1
- Vegetable oil and sesame seeds oil for frying
Dipping Sauce
- 1 cup dashi *2
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup mirin
Instructions
Sweet Potato Tempura
- Wash sweet potatoes thoroughly under running water.
- Scrape off the dirty skin with a knife and remove the whiskers. Cut into rounds of about ¼ inch/7mm thick to ensure they cook evenly in the the hot oil.
- Soak the sliced sweet potato in cold water for about 10-15 minutes.
- After soaking, drain the sweet potato slices and pat them dry with paper towels to remove any excess moisture.
- Add cold water and Japanese mayo in a large bowl and mix well with a whisk. By thoroughly mixing the mayo and cold water first, you can prevent over-mixing after adding the flour.
- Add the all purpose flour in two parts. If you over-mix the flour, it will become sticky and create gluten. Mix the first half with chopsticks until it becomes powdery.
- Add the remaining flour. Mix together lightly with chopsticks. It's okay if some powder remains. Be careful not to over-mix.
- Heat oil in a frying pan to around 338°F/170°C. *3
- Use a brush to lightly coat the drained sweet potatoes all over with flour.
- Dip each sweet potato slice into the tempura batter, ensuring it is fully coated. Allow any excess batter to drip off before placing the slice into the hot oil.
- Add the tempura batter coated sweet potato slices to the frying oil and fry for 3-4 minutes. *4
- Insert a bamboo skewer into the tempura. If it easily goes in smoothly, then it is cooked all the way through.
- Once the sweet potato tempura is cooked, remove it from the oil using a slotted spoon or tongs. Place the fried slices on a paper towel-lined plate to drain excess oil.
Dipping Sauce
- In a small saucepan, combine the dashi, soy sauce, and mirin.
- Bring the mixture to boil over medium heat for about 1minute.
- Turn the heat off and transfer the dipping sauce to a serving bowl or individual dipping bowls.
Notes
*1 If you don't access to Japanese mayo, see the recipe here.
*2 Dashi recipe - read this post for homemade dashi stock or you can add 1/4 tsp of granulated instant dashi powder dissolved into 1 cup of water.
*3 If you don't have anything to check the oil temperature with, instead you can shake off a bit of the batter from the chopsticks into the oil. When it sinks to the bottom and then rises, it is approximately 338°F/170°C .
Nutrition
Calories: 150kcal, Carbohydrates: 26g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 3g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 0.01g, Cholesterol: 1mg, Sodium: 1170mg, Potassium: 285mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 6g, Vitamin A: 8020IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 40mg, Iron: 1mg