I have been saying that I wanted to try making tempura fried vegetables since the first time I had it at a sushi place 3 years ago but my hatred of frying has kept me from doing it. I had some asparagus on it’s last leg this week and decided to just get it over with.
Tempura batter is a mixture of flour and cornstarch and then seltzer is used as the liquid. It’s a really light batter that gets super crispy and delicious. It’s great on just about anything but sweet potato and asparagus are my favorite. The sauce is a honey mustard but next time I think I’m going to make some kind of wasabi sauce. For some reason, spicy really works with the tempura batter.
I doubled the recipe and could have easily eaten more. It was kind of ridiculous how much I ate. It was really, really good.
- 1/4 cup yogurt
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 4 cups vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup seltzer at room temperature
- 1 pound asparagus
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In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt, mayonnaise, mustard and honey.
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In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat until the temperature registers 375° on a deep-fry thermometer.
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Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, salt and baking soda. Whisk in the seltzer until smooth.
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Add the asparagus to the batter and turn to coat. Transferring one piece at a time, add about one-quarter of the asparagus to the hot oil and cook, turning, until golden and crisp, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with the remaining asparagus, allowing the oil to return to 375° between batches. Serve hot with the dipping sauce.
