These tempura vegetables are coated in a light batter, shallow fried to crispy perfection, and served with a savory-sweet soy sesame dipping sauce.
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups seltzer water or beer (pale ale, pilsner, or another light beer), chilled
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder — only use if making beer tempura
- ½ cup peanut oil, or another high smoke point oil such as canola, plus more as needed
- 1 small sweet potato, sliced into ¼ inch thick slabs
- 1 small broccoli crown, broken into small florets
- 10 asparagus spears, woody ends trimmed
- ½ large onion, sliced into thin strips or rings
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Stir all ingredients together in a small bowl.
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Whisk the flour, salt, and baking soda (for beer tempura only) together in a medium bowl
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Whisk in the beer or seltzer water until the ingredients are completely blended.
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Pour about ¼ inch of oil into a large skillet and place it over medium heat.
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Give the oil a few minutes to heat up. When it begins to shimmer, test it by dropping in a small amount of batter into the skillet. If it starts to sizzle within a few seconds, the oil is ready.
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When the oil is ready, dip one of your veggies into the batter, coating all sides. Shake off any excess batter, then transfer the veggie to the hot oil.
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Repeat the process, adding as many veggies to the skillet as you can fit without crowding.
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Fry the vegetables for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until crispy.
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Transfer the tempura vegetables to a paper towel-lined plate to drain when they're finished frying.
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Continue dipping and frying the vegetables, adding oil to the skillet as needed.
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Serve your tempura vegetables immediately, with the dipping sauce on the side.
Nutrition information is for recipe using seltzer water.