Kakiage Recipe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6Wsyvv8pawendofvid
[starttext]

Kakiage is a kind of Tempura dish with a variety of chopped vegetables and seafood.  This deep-fried round food has a much more casual feeling than Tempura you may know, but it is as delicious as Tempura.
Tempura is one of the most famous Japanese foods outside  Japan.  It is battered and deep fried seafood and vegetables.  Tempura can be as formal as you want it to be at very expensive Tempura specialty restaurants in Japan.  Kakiage,  on the other hand, is made from thinly-cut or chopped vegetables and small pieces of seafood mixed with Tempura batter and deep-fried.  It is a great dish to use up left over vegetables hiding in the corner of the fridge.
You can use any vegetables that don’t have too much moisture.  Root vegetables like Gobo, lotus root, carrots, and sweet potatoes are good for Kakiage, but you can experiment with whatever ingredients you like of course.  It tastes better to mix different kinds of veggies In Kakiage rather than using one kind, but you need to cut them in similar small pieces so that they will be cooked at the same time.  You don’t need to, but cut-up shrimp, squid, or scallop are great additional flavors in this dish.
Kakiage can be eaten, just like Tempura, with Tempura sauce (our Mentsuyu), but it is also used as a topping for Udon or Soba noodles and Donburi (rice bowl) dish.
Although Kakiage is very easy and cheap to make, it’s not inferior to Tempura at all.  Try it, and you’ll love it!

• 2/3 cup Gobo, thinly shaved
• 1/2 cup carrot, thinly cut
• 1/2 cup brown onion, roughly diced
• 1/3 cup green beans, thinly cut
• 6 shrimp, cut into small pieces
• 1-2 Tbsp cake flour
• pinch of salt
• frying oil
• Mentsuyu
Tempura batter
• 1 cup (240ml cup) cake flour
• 3 Tbsp Katakuriko (potato starch) or cornstarch
• 1 cup (240ml) ice water

Instructions

1. Put prepared vegetables and shrimp in a large bow, add 1-2 Tbsp cake flour and salt, and coat vegetables well with flour.
2. For Tempura batter, mix flour, Katakuriko or cornstarch, and water in a different bowl. Do not over mix. Pour batter on the vegetable mix.
3. Put oil in a pan to 1-2cm deep, heat at medium high. Drop a couple of spoonfuls of battered vegetables into oil and fry for 5-6 minutes turning once or twice.

[endtext]