TEMPURA VEGETABLES

      Title: TEMPURA VEGETABLES
  Categories: Miamiherald, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Ethnic, Japanese
       Yield: 8 Servings
  
     1/4 c  Warm broth or water
       1 tb Sugar
   1 1/4 c  Soy sauce
     1/4 c  Sake or dry sherry
       1 tb Fresh grated ginger
       1 tb Sesame oil
       1 ts Hot chili oil
       2 tb Fresh lemon juice or rice
            -vinegar
 
 MMMMM---------------------FOR THE VEGETABLES--------------------------
       1    Eggplant (about 1/2 lb)
      16    Fresh snow peas; stemmed
     1/2 lb Fresh small mushrooms, like
            -shitake or oysters, cut in
            -half
       1 sm Sweet potato, peeled and cut
            -into 1/4" slices
       1    Bell pepper, green or red,
            -stemmed, seeded and cut
            -into 8 slices
            Peanut oil for frying
       1    Egg yolk
       2 c  Ice-cold water
     1/8 ts Baking soda
   1 2/3 c  All-purpose flour
  
   In a small mixing bowl, prepare the dipping sauce: Pour the broth or
   water over the sugar and stir to dissolve, Add soy, wine, ginger and
   oils, and stir well. Add lemon juice or rice vinegar (more or less to
   taste) and divide the sauce among 8 small individual dishes. Preheat
   oven to 200 degrees F. PLace 8 salad plates in the oven to warm.
   Place a rack over a baking sheet, and set aside. Use a vegetable
   peeler to peel stripes of skin form the eggplant, leaving on several
   narrow strips of skin. Halve the eggplant lengthwise and cut it into
   1/4" slices.Wash the slices, pat dry and place on one end of a large
   platter. PLace the rest of the prepared vegetables on the platter. In
   a stockpot or Dutch oven, heat 3" of oil over medium-high heat while
   you prepare the batter. In a large mixing bowl, add the yolk to the
   water and mix well. Stir int he baking soda; then, sift the flour in
   and stir with a wooden spoon. Using chopsticks or wooden tongs, dip
   the vegetables in the batter a piece at a time, moving each piece
   around to coat well. Maintaining oil at 375 degrees, fry the
   vegetables a serving at a time --- 2 pieces of eggplant, 2 snow peas,
   2 mushroom halves, 1 slice sweet potato and 1 slice bell pepper ---
   flipping them after 1 minute. Fry on the second side another minute
   or until lightly golden. Remove pieces with a mesh strainer tot he
   prepared baking sheet to drain. Strain any bits of batter or
   vegetables from the oil, repeat the process withthe second serving.
   When all the serving is placed in the oil, remove the first batch
   from the rack to a warmed plate in the oven. Repeat with remaining
   servings. Place a dish of dipping sauce on each plate of tempura
   vegetables, and serve immediately.
   
   Note: be sure to cut all vegetables into small, even pieces so that
   they cook evenly.  Snow peasa, mushrooms, eggplant, asparagus and
   sweet potatoes are traditional ingredients in Japan, but you can use
   carrots, bell peppers, string beans, cauliflower or onion rings as
   well.
   
   Nutritional info per serving: 285 cal; 14g fat, 30g carb, 9g pro
   
   Source: Miami Herald, 2/15/96 format by Lisa Crawford, 7/14/96
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