The Secret To Making Super Crispy Tempura At Home

Japanese tempura is the light, airy alternative to Western deep-fried foods. Instead of using heavy batters with breadcrumbs, tempura sees vegetables, seafood, and even fall maple leaves coated in a thin batter of water, flour, and egg, and fried to crispy perfection. It's common to find tempura at Japanese restaurants, both in standalone form and as an ingredient in cooked sushi, but you can also make your own at home pretty easily — you'll just want to keep a few tricks in mind to achieve that perfect textura.

To uncover the secret to crispy tempura, Chowhound spoke exclusively with Billy Wang, the owner of Sanuki Udon in New York City. The eatery is a fast-casual, counter-serve restaurant specializing in Japanese udon noodles and tempura, making Wang an expert on producing perfectly cooked tempura on a large scale. He says, "Achieving crispy tempura lies in proper batter preparation and precise oil temperature control." The trick is to prevent gluten from forming in the batter as much as possible by using cold water and only lightly mixing it, and then frying the coated morsels of food rapidly.

When preparing your tempura batter, Billy Wang has a few specific recommendations: "low-gluten flour, cold water at about 50°F, and a small amount of vinegar." These particular details, such as the frigid temperature of the water and the acidity of the vinegar, are all necessary to help inhibit gluten development in the batter, which is crucial to keep it from getting tough and sticky. For home cooks combining all these ingredients, Wang cautions, "Avoid over-stirring to preserve airiness in the batter." Over-mixing is another potential mistake that will produce excess gluten and make your batter tougher than desired. The consistency of your batter should be similar to heavy cream — not too thin or too thick.

Select the foods that you would like to fry. Common choices in Japanese cuisine include shrimp, fish cake, squash, sweet potato, yam, and mushroom. Shellfish and starchy vegetables work best; steer clear of vegetables with a high water content, such as tomatoes or cucumber, which do not fry well. Typically, meat is not used when making tempura, as it's too heavy to hold the light batter, but you can find chicken tempura, and McDonald's even uses a tempura-style batter for its iconic chicken nuggets.

Finally, when it comes time to deep fry, you'll want to get the oil temp just right. "Maintain a frying temperature of 340°F to 350°F to ensure the outer layer sets quickly and locks in moisture," Wang says. Submerge your pieces completely in the oil so they cook evenly, and prevent greasiness by keeping the temperature high and consistent.