- This batter is good for both chicken and fish. The trick is to “make it too thin” – It should be the consistency of lightly whipped cream.
Recipe One
- 2 large eggs (well beaten)
- 1 C AP flour
- 1 C ice cold beer
- 1 TBL buttermilk or whole milk
- 1/4 TBL corn starch
- 1 tsp baking powder
- OPT: Dijon mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to taste
Mix with minimum of agitation
When you are ready to fry, your oil should be 360º – 385º
Cut cross hatches in the meat to help the batter to stick. Dredge your chicken or fish in flour, then dip it into the batter. Sea bream is a good choice of fish.
This is also good for onion rings and fried vegetables
Let drain a few seconds, then put it GENTLY into the hot fry oil.
Cook fish about 3-4 minutes at about 385º Cook chicken about 10 minutes. Batter can be closer to 360º for chicken – since it will be cooking for a longer period.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan, and skim out fried batter bits
- Don’t stir while frying, just flip over after 1-2 minutes
- Let come back to heat between batches
- Sound will change from a sizzle to a crackle
- When bubbles stop, it is done cooking
Recipe Two
- 1 cup all-purpose flour – better cake or pastry flour (low protein)
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup water
- 1 TBL cornstarch
- Ice cubes, for chilling the water
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- Gather the ingredients.
- In a small bowl, sift the flour and cornstarch together once or twice to remove any clumps and to make it light and soft. Set aside.
- In a separate medium bowl, gently beat egg until the yolk and egg whites are just barely incorporated.
- Combine the water and ice cubes in a cup. Using a strainer, strain the water (you should have 1 cup of ice-cold water) and add it to the bowl with the beaten egg. Make sure you do not actually add ice cubes to the tempura batter.
- Add the sifted flour into the bowl with the egg and water mixture and lightly combine the flour using chopsticks. Be careful not to overmix the batter; it should be a little lumpy.
READY TO COOK - Heat oil to 355-360º
- Dip pieces in flour, then in the tempura batter. Let drip a bit.
- Slide into hot oil
- Serve immediately with a dipping sauce
