Whitebait Kakiage Tempura with Tentsuyu (New Zealand × Japanese)

Method

1. Put the dashi, soy sauce and mirin in a small pan and heat over medium heat for 1 min, just until it boils, then turn off the heat and let this tentsuyu dipping sauce cool.

   Add in this stepDashi 80 mlSoy sauce 1 tbspMirin 1 tbsp

   medium heat

2. Pat the whitebait thoroughly dry with paper towel. Slice the onion 0.5 cm thick, cut the carrot into thin 5 cm matchsticks and the spring onion into 4 cm lengths. Put everything in a bowl, sprinkle over some of the flour and toss to coat; the flour helps the pieces stick together.

   Add in this stepWhitebait (or shirasu), dried well 160 gOnion 60 gCarrot 40 gSpring onion 10 gPlain flour (or cake flour) 10 g

3. Pour the oil into a deep 18 cm pot, never more than half full, and heat over medium-high heat for about 6 min to 170 °C. No thermometer? Drop in a bit of batter: it should sink halfway and pop straight back up. Keep anything wet away from the oil, never leave it unattended, and turn off the heat at once if it smokes.

   Add in this stepVegetable oil for deep-frying 500 ml

   medium-high heat

4. Just before frying, pour the ice water into a cold bowl, add the rest of the flour and the cornflour and stir only about 10 times with chopsticks; a few lumps keep it crisp. Pour this batter over the whitebait mixture and stir lightly so everything is thinly coated.

   Add in this stepIce-cold water 80 mlPlain flour (or cake flour) 40 gCornflour (cornstarch) 10 g

5. Shape a flat round of the battered mixture, about 8 cm across, on a large spoon or spatula, hold it close to the oil and slide it in gently. Leave it alone for the first minute, keep the heat on medium heat and fry for 3 min in total, turning once. When the bubbles get smaller, the sound gets lighter and it is pale golden, stand it on a rack to drain. Fry only 2 or 3 at a time and skim off loose bits between batches. Whitebait holds a lot of water and can spit, so keep your face back.

   medium heat

6. Lightly squeeze the grated daikon and add it to the tentsuyu. Eat the kakiage hot, dipped in the sauce or in salt.

   Add in this stepDaikon radish, finely grated 60 gSalt 1 pinch