Vegetable and Mock Fish Panko Tempura with Wasabi Salt and Dipping Sauce

Difficulty: Medium

Serves 4

For those members on the family who weren’t on a health-kick this Easter, plus those who were looking to indulge a little, I whipped up this super crispy batch of panko tempura. I’ve done tempura before but this time I decided to add to the crunch by using both batter and panko bread crumbs which turned out to be a totally excellent and radical decision on my part. Team this up with my wasabi salt and dipping sauce and you’ve got a dish worth breaking your diet for.

Ingredients

• 1/3 packet Lamyong Calamari (you can use tofu or another mock meat if this isn’t available)
• Handful of snow peas, tails removed
• 1/2 red capsicum, cut into chunks
• 1/2 yellow capsicum, cut into chunks
• 1 small red onion, cut into chunks
• 2/3 cup plain flour
• 1 cup corn flour
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup and 1 tablespoon of soda water
• 2 cups panko bread crumbs
• 1 litre sunflower oil
• 1 tablespoon wasabi powder (you can get this from your local Asian grocery)
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/4 cup sweet chilli sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• Crushed peanuts

Method

1. Unroll each piece of mock fish and cut into thirds and set aside with your prepared vegetables.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, salt and pepper. There is no need to sift as this adds texture to the batter.
3. Add the soda water and mix gently with a fork. Be careful not to overmix, just until all the ingredients are combined.
4. Pour the bread crumbs into a shallow bowl and set aside next to the batter.
5. Gently dip each vegetable/mock fish piece into the batter and transfer into the bread crumbs. Ensure the pieces are coated nicely before adding to your hot oil.
6. Cook until golden and transfer to paper towel to drain.
7. Prepare the wasabi salt by combing the wasabi powder and salt. That step is really easy, I think you can do that.
8. Make the dipping sauce by combining the sweet chilli sauce, rice wine vinegar and sprinkling with crushed peanuts. That step is also pretty easy.
9. Serve this dish immediately.