Kakiage Vegetable Tempura
This vegetable tempura or Kakiage (かき揚げ) is a light and crispy Japanese fritter made with onions, carrots, green beans and mushrooms held together in a delicate matrix of tempura batter. In this guide to making kakiage, I'm going to show you all the secrets to making this ultra-crisp Japanese appetizer.
Ingredients
- vegetable oil (for frying)
- 150 grams onion ~½ onion, peeled & sliced
- 100 grams green beans (trimmed and cut into 1 ½-inch lengths)
- 70 grams carrot ½ carrot, julienned
- 70 grams maitake mushroom (shredded)
- 80 grams cake flour (scant ⅔ cup)
- ½ cup club soda (cold)
- salt for serving, sea salt
- ½ lemon (cut into wedges for garnish)
Instructions
- Add 1.5 to 2-inches of vegetable oil into a deep, heavy-bottomed pot and preheat to 355 degrees F (180 C). Prepare a wire rack by lining it with a few layers of paper towels.
- Add the onions, green beans, carrots, maitake mushrooms, and cake flour to a bowl and toss the vegetables in the flour.
- When the oil is ready. Add the club soda to the vegetables and stir using a folding motion with chopsticks to distribute the flour into the water. It should be barely mixed, and a few lumps of unmixed flour is okay.
- Scoop up some veggies and batter onto a wide spatula and shape it into a patty.
- Dunk the whole spatula into the oil and use chopsticks or another spatula to slide the vegetables into the oil. Repeat to make additional fritters.
- Fry the Kakiage until it's crisp on one side, and then flip it over and crisp the second side (it should take about 5 minutes in total).
- Drain the tempura well as you remove it from the oil, and then transfer it to your prepared rack.
- Serve on a sheet of paper, along with a side of salt and a wedge of lemon.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 6 kakiage
Amount Per Serving
Calories 75
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 75kcal | 4% |
| Carbohydrates | 16g | 5% |
| Protein | 3g | 6% |
| Fat | 1g | 2% |
| Saturated Fat | 1g | 5% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 1g | 6% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 1g | 5% |
| Sodium | 17mg | 1% |
| Potassium | 184mg | 4% |
| Fiber | 2g | 8% |
| Sugar | 3g | 6% |
| Vitamin A | 2072IU | 41% |
| Vitamin C | 9mg | 10% |
| Calcium | 21mg | 2% |
| Iron | 1mg | 6% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.