First, I’ll acknowledge that I’m a couple days late here to celebrate National Tempura Day...but the country kind of went sideways this week, so I think you can understand. As a peace offering, I’ve provided 3 recipes for an entire meal. I’m sure as events were unfolding, you had that Southwest Airlines commercial tag-line pop through your head: “Wanna get away?!” Yes, please, as far as possible. I’m thinking Japan would be a nice calming place to go and this dish will transplant you to a minka-style home, that is clean, sparsely furnished, quiet, and nestled peacefully into a lush, natural landscape. Still not quite relaxed? Have some saké!
I don’t have much expertise in Japanese cooking, but watching shows like Top Chef, I’ve been mystified by words like dashi and ponzu. I took some time and learned about them and thought about how they can play together and make an appearance in this light, but flavorful meal I have prepared. The result was an umami-bomb, Franken-sauce that I am calling Dashi-Pon. Much like there was no such thing as Ram-Don, I’m not sure if this sauce I made “is a thing”, but it is delicious! Paired with a quick Asian slaw and blistered shishito peppers, it is a fantastically satisfying meal.
Quick note: my fiancé, on a whim, grabbed some Yuzu Furikake at the store. It is amazing and the best way I can describe it is Asian “everything bagel” seasoning. I sprinkled this on the slaw and it really gave it a wonderful zest. See if your local grocery store sells it. She purchased it at Wegmans.
Tempura Shrimp with Dashi-Pon Sauce
1 lb wild caught shrimp, peeled and deveined
Oil for frying
Corn starch
1 cup of flour
1 tsp salt
Egg, lightly beaten
1.5 cups of cold seltzer or sparkling water
Ice
Dashi-Pon dipping sauce*
Prepare the sauce (see below) and set aside to cool. Meanwhile, prepare the Asian slaw, if accompanying. Otherwise , move straight to preparing the dipping sauce.
Heat oil to 375 degrees in a deep fryer or pot and prepare the batter by whisking the flour, salt, egg, ice, and seltzer until it just comes together. Do not overmix.
When at temperature, dredge the prepared shrimp, 6-8 at a time, in corn starch. Grabbing them by the tails, lightly tap 2 shrimp together to remove excess corn starch and dip them into the batter. Let excess batter drip back into the bowl and place the shrimp in the hot oil. Repeat with few remaining dredged-shrimp. Fry for about 90 seconds and drain on a cooling rack placed in a baking sheet lined with paper towels.
Repeat with all remaining shrimp in batches.
*Dashi-Pon
½ cup of ponzu
¼ cup water
2 tbsp mirin
3 tbsp tamari
1.5 tsp of dashi powder
1 tsp sugar
Combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan and turn the heat to medium and whisk constantly for about a minute or so until the dashi and sugar have fully dissolved. Pour into a bowl and set aside to cool.
Quick Asian Slaw
If you want, just grab a pre-made mix of slaw that has shredded red and green cabbage and carrots. All the available slaw at the store today looked horrendous, so I made my own as noted below.
½ small red cabbage
½ small savoy cabbage
2 carrots
2 scallions, thinly sliced on a bias
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1.5 tbsp white miso
1.5 tbsp mayonnaise
Juice of ½ lemon
Sugar
⅓ cup of grapeseed or vegetable oil
Sprinkling Yuzu Furikake
Cut the halves of your cabbages in two pieces and thinly slice. Peel your carrots and halve lengthwise, then cut into thirds. Stack the pieces and thinly slice. Alternatively, shred these items either on a box grater or food processor fitted with a shredding disc.
Mix the shredded/sliced veggies in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, miso, mayo, lemon juice, oil and a pinch of sugar. Pour the dressing over the slaw and mix to combine. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Serve with a light sprinkling of the Yuzu Furikake and bring more to the table because your friends and family are going to love it.
Blistered Shishito Peppers
4 oz (or more) shishito peppers
Olive oil
Fine sea salt
In a non-stick or cast-iron skillet, heat 2 tbsp oil over medium high heat. Toss in peppers to coat with oil and let them pan-fry for about 2 minutes. Once browned, toss and cook another minute or so and season with a pinch of salt.
_____________________________________________ Copyright 2021, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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