Ebi tempura
海老天ぷら
Prawns in a cold, thin batter, fried so the shell is lace — tempura as a technique, not a thick breadcrumb.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: 海老天ぷら.
0 people cooked this in the public kitchen yet. Kitchen-tested by I Want Some Food. Not a purchased rating.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Rest
- None
- Total
- 35 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Spice
- No chilli
- Cost
- Weeknight budget$8–16 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Tempura batter should be cold and barely mixed. Lumps are fine. The oil should be hot enough that the coating sets before it drinks fat. Prawns get their tails left on and a few belly cuts so they stay straight. This is not beer-batter pub prawns. Wet prawns spit and the coating slides. Dry them, then dust a whisper of starch before the batter. Mix with chopsticks in a few strokes; a smooth batter is already wrong. Fry few at a time so the oil temperature recovers. If the crust is blond and greasy, the oil was cool; if it is dark in under a minute, it was cruel. Drain on a rack, not paper piled in a bowl. Salt at the table. A thick British batter mix will not behave like this, so do not start from that packet.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- Prawn, peeled, tails on, deveined300 g
- Wheat flour80 g
- Egg, cold1 large
- Water, ice-cold120 ml
- Neutral oil, for frying800 ml
- Korean radish, grated daikon, to serve (optional)80 g
Tentsuyu
- Dashi80 ml
- Soy sauce30 ml
- Korean rice wine15 ml
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Mix tentsuyu and keep warm. Score the prawn bellies so they do not curl. Pat dry. Dust very lightly in flour.
8 minStep 2
Stir egg and ice water into flour and cornflour with chopsticks three or four times. Lumps stay. Batter sits on ice.
2 minStep 3
Heat oil to 175°C. Dip prawns, fry 90 seconds until the lace is pale gold, not brown. Drain on a rack.
10 minWatch: Overmixing makes a bready coat. Overheating browns the batter before the prawn cooks.
Step 4
Eat immediately with tentsuyu and grated daikon.
Adapt this recipe
The canonical recipe stays intact. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are maths, not AI.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 10 October.
Substitutions
Prawns → Sweet-potato slices
Kakiage and vegetable tempura are the other half of the technique.
Tips
- Vegetables (sweet potato, shiso, mushroom) use the same batter. Fry those a little longer.
- A thermometer helps more than courage.
History & culture
A Portuguese-influenced fry that Japan made seasonal and precise. Home tempura is possible; a dedicated shop is still better at volume. A tempura counter is a timing performance you cannot fully copy at home, which is why households treat it as a special pan of oil, not a Tuesday reflex. Seasonal vegetables often matter more than the prawn in a serious shop. Home cooks still want the prawn because it feels like an occasion. Serve it at once. People who microwave leftovers learn why shops refuse to pack it 'for later'.
Nagasaki and Edo frying after Iberian contact. The word is debated; the method is not. Iberian frying methods met Japanese seasonal cooking and a different oil culture. What we call tempura now is a long negotiation: lighter batters, specific seafood, a dipping broth instead of a heavy sauce. Home electric fryers and neutral oils are recent tools. They do not make you a specialist shop. They do make a short, hot pan of prawns possible without a dedicated charcoal stove.
Traditional
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips — not a chatbot.
How long does Ebi tempura take?
35 min all in — 20 min prep, 15 min cook. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 2 plates. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Medium.
How spicy is it?
No chilli.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Shellfish, Wheat. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Pescatarian, Dairy-free, Nut-free.
What does it cost to cook?
Weeknight budget — about $8–16 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Saucepan, Mixing bowl.
How much salt do I put in?
This recipe does not list salt as its own ingredient. Saltiness comes from Soy sauce — 2 tbsp. Taste at the end rather than adding a number we did not write.
How much soy sauce?
2 tbsp of Soy sauce.
What can I use instead?
Prawns → Sweet-potato slices. Kakiage and vegetable tempura are the other half of the technique.
What should I watch for?
Overmixing makes a bready coat. Overheating browns the batter before the prawn cooks.
Any tips from this recipe?
Vegetables (sweet potato, shiso, mushroom) use the same batter. Fry those a little longer. A thermometer helps more than courage.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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