Tempura

Ingredients:

Heart healthy oil (I like to use Smart Balance for this)

Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Pie Crust (Make sure it’s the “pie crust” only mix, not the “biscuit and baking mix” or the gluten free “baking flour”)

ground black pepper

cold water

ice cubes

Quinoa flour

Veggies (broccoli, petite baby carrots, green beans, mushrooms, zucchini, etc…)

Cooking Instructions:

1. Heat your oil to about 375 degrees in a pan suited for doing so. (I actually own a fryer which the only two things I ever fry are tempura and mandu, which is a Korean dumpling.) 

2. Put some of the pie crust mix into a bowl. How much depends on how much you’re making. I always start with at least two cups.

3. Add some black pepper to taste. I usually use 1/2 tsp per 2 cups of crust mix.

4. Fill a large measuring cup half-filled with ice cubes and add cold water. Slowly add water and ice cubes to your flour mix, whisking as you do so, until the batter is just about to the consistency you want. (I test it by pulling up my whisk. If the batter easily flows off the whisk like water, it’s good.) You’ll have some unmelted ice cubes in the batter.  That’s perfect. Those will continue to melt and keep your batter cold while you turn your attention to the veggies.

5. Put some quinoa flour in a bowl and dip your veggies into the flour to coat them.  Shake off any excess.

6. Dip the floured veggies into the tempura batter and shake off any excess.

7. Put just enough veggies into your oil as the pan can accommodate. You don’t want to overfill the pan because the tempura batter will expand. You want to put the veggies in as quickly as you can and then cover the pan. Immediately put two minutes on your timer.

8. When two minutes are up, remove the veggies, making sure to lightly shake off any excess oil. Put the veggies into a pan lined with paper towels to absorb any excess oil.

9. Tempura is best eaten while still warm. Eat plain or with soy sauce or a sauce of your own choosing.