Kakiage
A loose fritter of matchstick vegetables held by barely enough batter, slid in on a flat spoon.
Shellfish, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains shellfish.
Ingredients
- 1 onion, in thin half-moons
- 1 carrot, in fine matchsticks
- 150 g prawns, chopped
- 60 g mitsuba or spring greens
- 120 g plain flour
- 30 g potato starch
- 200 ml iced water
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons flour, for dusting
- oil, for deep frying
Method
- BARELY ENOUGH BATTER TO HOLD IT. The vegetables are dusted with dry flour first, and the batter is added a spoonful at a time until they only just cling. A fritter swimming in batter fries as a dense pancake; this should be open and lacy with gaps you can see through.
- EVERYTHING CUT THE SAME SIZE, fine and long. Mixed shapes cook at different rates and the fritter is raw in one place and burnt in another.
- ICED WATER AND A LUMPY BATTER. Mix the yolk into the water, then the flours, with chopsticks, about ten strokes. Lumps are correct -- a smooth batter has developed gluten and fries heavy and bready.
- Keep the bowl sitting in iced water while you work.
- Dust the prepared vegetables with the 2 tablespoons of dry flour and toss, so the batter has something to grip.
- SLID IN ON A FLAT SPOON, not dropped. A spoonful is lowered to the oil's surface and pushed off gently so the fritter lands flat and open. Dropped from height it compacts into a ball.
- Oil at 170C, lower than most frying, because this needs three minutes to cook the middle.
- Hold it together for the first 20 seconds with chopsticks if it starts to spread, then leave it alone.
- 3 to 4 minutes, turning once, until pale gold and rigid. Spoon a little hot oil over the top rather than turning it repeatedly.
- Drain upright on a rack. Serve with salt or with a dashi dipping broth.
Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.
Filed under Japan · All recipes