Hailing from Japan, Tendon is mainly comprised of crispy tempura that is paired with freshly steamed rice and soy sauce. The dish is a kind of donburi, whereby it is a one-bowl meal with steamed rice, added with meat or vegetables.
The Tendon is versatile as you may use any kind of vegetables or seafood that you like to make the tempura. This delectable meal will surely fill up your belly and it is the perfect meal to eat during lunch or dinner.
Curious to know the delectable flavours of tendon? Check out the recipe below and try it out within the comforts of your own home.
Ingredients (2 Servings):
- 300g of steamed rice
- 4 pieces of shiitake mushrooms
- 75g of tempura flour
- 80g of tiger prawns
- ¼ of aubergine
- ½ of Renkon lotus root
- Vegetable Oil
(Dressings)
- 2 tbsp of soy sauce
- 6 tbsp of mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine)
- 2 tbsp of sugar
- 1 tsp of liquid dashi
Directions:
- Start by first preparing the Japanese white rice by washing the rice in a bowl. Then, proceed to add the rice into the saucepan filled with water and boil it over high heat for about 20 minutes. Once the water has simmered, take the saucepan away from the stove and then let the rice steam for another 20 minutes.
- Once the rice is cooked, carry on with cutting the aubergine and renkon into smaller slices and then proceed to peel the prawn’s shell, only leaving the tail attached to the body.
- Ensure that the all of the ingredients are dry and use a paper towel to pat it if it is wet.
- Pour the vegetable oil into a pan (at approximately ⅔ of the pan) and then begin heating it to about 165°C.
- Whilst waiting for the oil to heat up, carry on with mixing the tempura flour with cold water (110 mL) to create the batter. Ensure that the batter is extra cold to create an even crispier tempura by using ice cubes or ice-cold water.
- Sprinkle a little bit of flour onto the prawns and then dip it into the batter and make sure that the entire prawn is covered. Place the battered prawns into the pan with hot oil and allow it to cook for about a minute and watch as it turns to a delicious golden colour. Once cooked, place the tempura onto a paper towel to remove the excess oil. The dish is best served warm.
- To make the sauce, start by adding the mirin into a pot and bring the heat to high heat. Once the alcohol has dissolved, add the soy sauce, sugar and dashi and then allow the mixture to simmer. Once the sauce is done, you can start plating the meal by adding the tempura and rice into the bowl, topped with the sauce.