From Setsuko Yoshizuka,
Your Guide to Japanese Food.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

Tip 1: Ice
Use ice water for the batter. This is really important to prevent the batter from absorbing too much oil.

Tip 2: Batter (Tempura Batter Recipe)
Do not make the batter ahead of time. Try not to over mix the batter and not to coat ingredients with the batter too much.

Tip 3: Frying Order
If you are frying both seafood and vegetables, fry vegetables first. Then, fry seafood. Fry vegetables at 340F degree and fry seafood at 350F degree.

Tip 4: Oil Temperature
To check the temperature of frying oil, drop a little batter into the oil. If the batter comes up right away instead of sinking to the bottom of the pan, it's about 360 F degree. If the batter goes halfway to the bottom and comes up, it's about 340F degree. This is said to be the right temperature to fry tempura.

Try making Japanese tempura!

How to Make Tempura Shrimp
Tempura Recipes