Name: Vegetable tempura
Total time: 25 min
Yield: serves 6
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 250ml soda water, ice cold; 150g (or use plain flour) tempura flour; for frying groundnut oil; 150g shiitake mushrooms, sliced; 1 sweet potato, halved lengthways and thinly sliced; 1 aubergine, thinly sliced; 1 red pepper, cut into squares; 4 tbsp lemon juice; 4 tbsp soy sauce; 1 tbsp caster sugar

A pile of vegetable tempura fritters on a plate

250ml soda water
ice cold
150g (or use plain flour) tempura flour
for frying groundnut oil
150g shiitake mushrooms
sliced
1 sweet potato
halved lengthways and thinly sliced
1 aubergine
thinly sliced
1 red pepper
cut into squares

ponzu dipping sauce

4 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp caster sugar

Method

step 1
Mix the sauce ingredients together. Pour the soda water into a bowl, add the flour and lightly mix until just combined.
step 2
Fill a wok or pan a third full with oil and heat. Test the heat by dropping in a piece of bread – if it sizzles and floats to the top, the oil is hot enough. Dip the vegetables in the batter and drop into the oil in batches.
Fry until golden, then drain on kitchen paper. Serve with the sauce.