Cooking for Zo

Taste Level: VG
Cost: $20 and over
Serves: 4-6
Prep Time: 15-20 min.
Cook Time: 15-2o min.
Difficulty: 1

Tempura platters are a quick and tasty Japanese meal that are easy to make and really impress company. There are many ways to make the crispy light batter so don't be afraid to experiment! If you do not feel like experimenting then stick to my recipe or buy a prepacked mix. Either way it will be great!

Ingredients:
Batter
1 eggs
1/2 cup ice cold water
1/2 cup ice cold sparkling water
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp corn starch
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 pound ice cubes

Platter
2 Softshell crabs
1/2 pound large gulf shrimp (shelled with tail left on)
1/2 cup baby Japanese eggplants (sliced in 1/4 inch slices)
1/2 of a medium carrot (sliced at angled 1/4 inch slices)
1/2 of a medium sweet potato (sliced at angled 1/4 inch slices)
1/2 of a large red potato (sliced at angled 1/4 inch slices)
1/2 cup bit sized broccoli chunks
1/2 of a medium red onion (sliced into 1/4 rings)

Place ice cubes in a large mixing bowl, place a medium mixing bowl into the large bowl and whisk an egg until smooth. Whisk together flour, corn starch and salt in a separate bowl until mixed well. Add both water and sparkling water to bowl with egg and whisk lightly. Add flour mixture to egg and water and whisk lightly (Be careful not to over mix the batter.)

Preheat vegetable oil over medium high heat in a deep sauce pan.

In batches you can handle frying, lightly dip ingredients in the batter and immediately fry them until crisp. The crabs and shrimp will take 1-3 minutes while the vegetables will take 2-5 minutes to be crisp. As they finish remove to a plate covered in paper towels. Serve right away with a sweet and sour garlic chili sauce.