Light and crispy sweet potato tempura just like your favorite Japanese restaurant. This easy and delicious appetizer or side dish is made without eggs, and the batter can be used to make vegetable tempura.
Why You'll Love this Recipe
- It's an easy appetizer that can be whipped up in 20 minutes!
- It's made with no eggs! A lot of recipes include eggs in the batter but I found you can achieve the same lightness and crispiness without eggs! I'm all for fewer ingredients while achieving similar results.
- It's freezer friendly! Have a stash ready for a quick appetizer or side dish!
- It's easily adaptable for other proteins and vegetables!
Ingredients
Ingredient Substitutions
- Hondashi powder can be hard to find. I found mine at an Asian grocery store but it can also be ordered online. To substitute, use ¼ cup of chicken broth in place of water and dashi powder. The taste will be different but works in a pinch.
- Mirin- sweet rice wine is a common ingredient that can be found at major grocery stores. Rice wine vinegar is a good alternative with a slightly tangy flavor.
How to Make Sweet Potato Tempura
- Make the dipping sauce. Bring water, Hondashi powder, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar to a boil and mix until the sugar dissolves. Set aside.
- Heat the oil. In a skillet, bring 1 inch of oil to 375°F. I'm shallow frying but you can also deep fry with more oil.
- Prepare the tempura batter. Mix flour with cold water until it resembles thin pancake batter. Lightly coat the sweet potato in the flour then dip in the tempura batter, letting excess batter drip off.
- Fry the sweet potato. Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side, drain on a wire rack and season with salt. Serve with the dipping sauce!
Tasty Tips
- Use cold water. We want to minimize gluten development in the batter to ensure a light and crispy coating.
- Don't overmix the tempura batter. Small clumps are fine. The tempura batter should be the consistency of thin pancake batter. Add 1 tablespoon of water at a time if needed to achieve this.
- Fry in batches. Don't overcrowd the pan or the temperature of the oil will drop too low resulting in a less crispy coating.
- Drain on a wire rack. Paper towels work but a wire rack allows excess oil to drain through and air flow to prevent soggy tempura.
FAQs
Tempura is a popular Japanese dish that is battered and deep fried using seafood, meat, and vegetables. It was introduced to Japan by the Portuguese in the 16th century and has become a staple in Japanese cuisine.
Hondashi is a soup stock powder that adds a savory and umami flavor to dishes using seasonings and dried fish, kelp, salt, sugar, msg, and yeast extract.
Sweet potato tempura can be eaten on its own as an appetizer or snack.
It can also be served with a meal as a side dish or even as a meal in itself with noodles or rice.
For a tempura dinner, fry other proteins and vegetables like shrimp, chicken, green beans, mushrooms, eggplant, and zucchini.
Sweet potato tempura can also be made into a sushi roll.
You can store in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the fridge or in the freezer for a month. The dipping sauce can be stored for up to a week in the refrigerator.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the sweet potato tempura in a single layer. Freeze for 2 hours then transfer to a freezer bag.
You can refry for a couple minutes to reheat or use an air fryer. The air fryer is my favorite method because it drains excess oil while maintaining a crispy coating. I air fry at 400°F for 5-6 minutes, flipping halfway through. You can also reheat straight from the freezer.
More Easy Appetizers You'll Love
Easy Japanese Sweet Potato Tempura
Ingredients
- 1 medium sweet potato ¼ inch slices
- ¾ cup all purpose flour divided
- ½ cup cold water
- oil for frying
- salt to taste
Tempura Dipping Sauce
- ¼ cup water
- heaping ¼ teaspoon hondashi powder
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons mirin
- ½ teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, bring dipping sauce ingredients to a boil and mix until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside.
- In a skillet, heat 1 inch of oil on medium high heat to 375°F.
- While the oil is heating up, prepare two bowls. One with ¼ cup of flour and another with ½ cup of flour mixed with ½ cup of cold water. The tempura batter should be the consistency of thin pancake batter and small clumps are fine. Add 1 tablespoon of water at a time if needed.
- Dip slices of sweet potato into the flour then into the batter. Let the excess batter drip back into the bowl.
- Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side then drain on a wire rack and season with salt. Repeat with remaining sweet potatoes.
- Serve the sweet potato tempura immediately with the dipping sauce.
Notes
- Use cold water. We want to minimize gluten development in the batter to ensure a light and crispy coating.
- Fry in batches. Don't overcrowd the pan or the temperature of the oil will drop too low resulting in a less crispy coating.
- You can also dip these in soy sauce or spicy mayo.
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