I don’t like to eat fish, but then I saw Ajiten or Horse Mackerel Tempura and I had to give it a try. Indeed tempura is lighter than battered fried fish. Not only because I served it with rice pilaf instead of chips, the batter itself was lighter and it didn’t toughen up by next day as fried fish batters generally do. I used Jim’s apple wine to soak the fish to get rid of the fishy taste. I may have overdone the soaking; all I could taste was wine! But tasting wine is better than tasting fish, haha.
WHITE FISH TEMPURA
4 white fish filets
3 tablespoons cooking sake
salt
5 Tbsp tempura batter mix
3 Tbsp ice cold water
- the water should be the coldest possible, so mix the batter just before frying, when the oil is very hot
- the batter should have lumps, without lumps it's not as light and airy.
- Pour oil at least 2 inches deep into a deep skillet.
• Heat the oil between 350-360F
• In a small bowl barely whisk together batter mix and ice cold water.
• Set bowl into larger bowl filled with ice cubes to keep batter cold.
• Pat fish dry with paper towels.
• Dip the fish into batter one at the time and carefully slide into hot oil.
• Deep fry 2-4 minutes until cooked and yellowish white, turning over once.
• Remove; drain on paper towels.
• Serve immediately.
