Vegetable tempura

Use very cold sparkling water and plain flour, and stir only briefly; a few small lumps are fine. Coat the vegetables lightly and fry straight away, before the batter warms or develops too much gluten.

Heat the oil to 170–180 °C and fry in small batches so it does not cool sharply. The batter should sizzle on contact and turn pale gold; let each batch drain on a wire rack rather than kitchen paper, which can trap steam.

Cut them into thin, even pieces: courgette usually takes about 1–2 minutes, aubergine 2–3 minutes and sweet potato 4–5 minutes. Keep the pieces separate in the oil and lift them out once the coating is crisp and the vegetable is just tender.

Courgette, aubergine, sweet potato, pumpkin, mushrooms, green beans and broccoli all work well. Dry them thoroughly before dipping, and slice dense vegetables such as sweet potato thinly so they cook through before the batter darkens.

Serve it hot with tentsuyu, a Japanese dipping sauce made with dashi, soy sauce and mirin; grated daikon is a common accompaniment. It also goes well with steamed rice or soba noodles.

Reheat it in a single layer on a wire rack in an oven at 200 °C for about 5–8 minutes. Avoid the microwave, which softens the coating; refrigerate leftovers promptly and eat them within two days.