Tempura Shrimp with Homemade Sake Dipping Sauce

Tempura Shrimp with Homemade Sake Dipping Sauce

1 pound large shrimp peeled, deveined
1 cup rice flour plus
1 cup rice flour for dusting
1 cup cold seltzer water
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon sesame oil (optional)
Vegetable oil for frying
Kosher salt to taste

Butterfly the shrimp by cutting down the back, being careful not to cut all the way through. Open the shrimp like a book and rinse well with cold water.

Make the Tempura Batter: Put 1 cup of rice flour in a bowl and pour in the seltzer. Stir with a whisk to get out all the lumps. Add the egg yolk and blend it in well. The batter should be the consistency of heavy cream. Flavor with sesame oil, if using.

Heat about 2 inches of vegetable oil to 375 degrees in a wok or deep fryer.

Dry the shrimp well. Dust the shrimp in flour to soak up any remaining moisture, shake off excess. Dip the shrimp into the batter one by one. Drop 4 or 5 pieces at a time in the hot oil. Do not overcrowd the pan. Fry until golden brown, turning once, about 3 minutes.

To keep the oil clean between batches, skim off the small bits of batter that float in the oil. Remove the fried shrimp from the oil and drain on paper towels; season them with salt. Serve with the dipping sauce.

This recipe yields 4 servings.

Homemade Sake Dipping Sauce

Ingredients
1 cup Sake
1 tablespoon dashi granules (Japanese soup stock)
1/4 cup mirin (Japanese sweet wine)
2 tablespoons soy sauce

In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil. Stir in dashi, and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in mirin and soy sauce.

I paired this dish with some vegetable tempura as well. I used sweet potato, zucchini, broccoli & mushrooms. You can also have a few slices of Vidalia onion if you want. You can use the batter from the tempura shrimp.