Comment préparer du Tenzaru Soba (nouilles soba réfrigérées avec recette de tempura assortie)

Gather the ingredients together. Sift the All-Purpose Flour for the Tempura batter.
Tip: Make sure to use chilled or ice water for the tempura batter. This prevents the batter from developing gluten.

Prepare the ingredients for Tempura in the following way.

Shishito pepper: Remove the stem edges and make a cut in the middle to prevent bursting during deep-frying.

Eggplant: Make a shallow cut around the middle of the calyx, then peel the pointy edge. Slice into 5 mm thick pieces, keeping them connected at the bottom. Open them like a fan. This helps the eggplant cook evenly inside and enhances its visual appeal.

Shrimp: Peel off the shell and remove the pointed shell on the tail. The tail contains water, which can cause hot oil to splash during deep-frying, so remove the edge of the tail. Make a shallow cut on the back to expose the vein, then remove it. Also, make three shallow vertical cuts on the belly side and gently straighten the shrimp by bending it backward.

Japanese leek: Cut into thin slices.

Ginger and daikon: Grate them with a grater and drain the excess moisture using a strainer.

Combine the water and beaten egg. Mix them well with chopsticks.

Add this mixture to the sifted all-purpose flour. Use a whisk to mix until some lumps remain. The texture of the batter should be fluid and slightly lumpy.

Coat the Tempura ingredients lightly with all-purpose flour.

Dip the Tempura ingredients into the batter we just prepared.

Prepare a deep frying pot and pour enough cooking oil to reach a depth of at least 3 cm. Heat it over medium heat until the temperature reaches 170-175°C. You can test the temperature by dripping some batter into the hot oil. If the batter sinks deeply and then floats to the surface, the oil is ready for deep-frying.

Deep-fry the Tempura ingredients as follows:

Shishito pepper: 40-50 seconds
Kabocha: 2-3 minutes
Shiso leaves: 20-30 seconds
Eggplant: Add the eggplant to the oil as close to the surface as possible to help it hold its shape and avoid burns. Deep-fry for 2-3 minutes.
Shrimp: 1 minute 30 seconds to 2 minutes

Once the ingredients are deep-fried, drain the excess oil on a tray with a wire rack.

Scoop out the Tempura bits and clean the oil if it becomes covered with debris.

Tips: Fry in small batches to avoid dropping the oil temperature too quickly. For a crisper texture, sprinkle some batter on the ingredients with chopsticks while deep-frying.

Along with the deep-frying step, prepare a pot of boiling water and cook the dried Soba noodles according to the time indicated on the package.

Drain the hot water using a strainer and cool the noodles under tap water. Drain any excess water.

Place the Soba on a Zaru (shallow bamboo basket). Arrange the Tempura, Mentsuyu dipping sauce, grated Daikon and ginger, sliced Japanese leek, and wasabi separately as shown in the picture below.

Enjoy!