Making tempura fish at home is a simple and quick way to serve a healthy meal that's a little different from the normal casserole or one-pan go-to dish, and it doesn't take much more time than either of those to put together. Preparing tempura batter is simple, especially with a mix. Tempura usually contains some combination of flour, spices, baking powder, soda and cornstarch. Frying tempura fish is done at a fairly high temperature and fish cooks quickly, which means that your batter-fried fish does not spend a lot of time deep frying.
Step 1
Rinse your fish and pat it dry with paper towels. Dry it thoroughly or the batter won't stick. Any kind of boneless fish will do, though cod, halibut and flounder work particularly well.
Step 2
Cut your fish into pieces about the width, length and thickness of your first two fingers held together. Keep the pieces as uniform as possible.
Step 3
Prepare your tempura batter according to the directions on the box. Generally, you just add water and whisk it together.
Step 4
Fill a skillet with 2 to 3 inches of oil. Canola oil is best, but any vegetable oil will do.
Step 5
Hang a deep-fat thermometer over the side of the skillet so that the probe is in the oil and heat the oil to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 6
Dip two to four of your fish pieces into the tempura batter, all at once. Coat them thoroughly.
Step 7
Let the excess batter drain off for a second or two as you pick each fish piece out of the batter and place it into the hot oil.
Step 8
Fry no more than two to four pieces of battered fish at a time. This keeps the oil from cooling down and also keeps the fish pieces from sticking together.
Step 9
Cook the fish pieces for five to seven minutes and then pluck them out with tongs and place them on a paper-towel lined plate to drain.
Tips and Warnings
- Keep the temperature of the oil between 360 and 380 Fahrenheit to ensure that the fish does not either get soggy or burn.
- Do not overcook tempura fish or it will dry out and get tough.
Things You'll Need
- Paper towels
- Tempura batter
- Skillet
- Oil
- Deep-fat thermometer
- Tongs
- Paper towels
- Plate
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