The story of tempura

Tempura is seafood or vegetables coated in a batter of flour mixed with water (and egg) and deep-fried. Unlike karaage, which seasons the meat first, tempura seals in the ingredient's own flavour under a thin coat. Inside the batter the food is almost steamed, so fish stays moist and vegetables turn sweet.

The kanji 天麩羅 or 天婦羅 are phonetic borrowings. There are several theories about the word; a leading one traces it to the Portuguese tempero, “seasoning” or “cooking” (others point to têmporas, Christian fast days). No conclusive evidence has been found.

A “southern barbarian” dish in Nagasaki

In the 16th century, when Portuguese ships opened the so-called Nanban trade, the Western technique of frying food in batter is thought to have reached Japan. Nagasaki developed Nagasaki tempura, with a thick batter containing sugar and sake, fried in lard, and it is seen as one root of Japanese tempura.

A famous story says that Tokugawa Ieyasu died from eating sea bream tempura. It is recorded that in 1616, on a hawking trip, Ieyasu ate a dish then fashionable in Kyoto, sea bream fried in kaya-nut oil with grated garlic chives, and fell ill with stomach pains that night. But he died about three months later, stomach cancer is now the favoured explanation, and it is not even clear the dish was tempura as we know it. “Killed by tempura” is best treated as folklore.

Street food for the people of Edo

The word appears as “tenfurari” in a 1669 cookbook. Edo-style batter-frying is clearly described in a 1748 book, which says that “any fish can be dusted with wheat flour and fried in oil”.

Tempura's big break came in the late 18th century at Edo street stalls. Seafood from the bay was battered, fried in sesame oil and served on skewers, to be dipped in sauce with grated daikon and eaten standing up. Cheap and quick, it became Edo fast food alongside soba and sushi.

From stalls to shops to private rooms

By the late Edo period, tempura soba and tempura with rice and tea had appeared. From around 1848–54, tempura shops with fixed premises joined the stalls, and in the Meiji era houses such as Tenkin in Ginza and Hashizen in Shinbashi became famous.

Around 1874–75, a shop called Nakano in Kanda is said to have invented tendon, tempura on rice. In the Taishō era (1912–26), ozashiki tempura, fried in front of guests in a private room, turned tempura from a street snack into a feast.

Then came the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923. Many Tokyo tempura cooks moved to the Kansai region, which is said to have raised the level of tempura in Osaka and Kobe. Edo's tempura spread across the country.

Tempura is eaten all over Japan, but styles differ by region. The best-known contrast is between Kantō (Tokyo) and Kansai (Osaka and Kyoto).

Kantō tempura, raised in Edo, uses fragrant sesame oil to mask any fishiness, with an egg batter fried hot and fast to a deep golden colour, eaten with dipping sauce and daikon. Kansai tempura grew partly from the region's vegetable-based shōjin-age: a milder oil and an eggless batter fried lower and slower, pale and light, and often eaten with salt to bring out the ingredient.

Ask for “tempura” in western Japan and…

There is also a difference in words. In parts of western Japan, such as Kyushu, Chūgoku and Shikoku, “tempura” means fried fish-paste cakes, the kind otherwise called satsuma-age. A late-Edo record of customs, the Morisada Mankō, notes in effect that in Kyoto and Osaka fried fish paste was called tempura, while Edo's tempura was called tsukeage there. If someone in western Japan asks you to pick up some tempura, they may mean fish cakes.

Nagasaki tempura, seen as the origin, uses a thick batter with sugar and sake, fried in lard. The batter itself is seasoned, which is the big difference from Edo tempura.

The ingredients for tempura are called tane. Almost anything that can be fried can become tempura, but start with the classics.

For something different, try ice-cream tempura, said to have been invented at Tsunahachi in Shinjuku. The batter is fried for just a moment, so the outside is hot and the inside stays cold.

Paired with rice or noodles, tempura became an everyday meal.

Tendon is tempura dipped in a sweet soy-based sauce and laid over rice. It is said to have been born in Kanda in the early Meiji era, and by the end of Meiji a magazine listed it among the dishes “everyone knows”. Sauce-soaked batter over sauce-soaked rice is a different pleasure from tempura straight from the oil.

Tempura soba goes back to the late Edo period. Today, kakiage soba at standing noodle bars and prawn tempura on soba or udon are staples. Batter softened by the broth has its own appeal next to the crisp kind.

Tempura turns out light and crisp because the water in the batter boils off in an instant, leaving tiny pockets behind. The fine bubbles you see while frying are that water leaving as steam. Three tips do most of the work:

• Keep the batter cold and do not overmix. Use ice water and chilled flour, and stir lightly just before frying. Overmixing or warmth lets the gluten in the flour turn sticky, making a heavy coat. A few lumps are fine.
• Aim for 170–180 °C. A little lower for vegetables, a little higher for prawns and other seafood.
• Do not crowd the pot. Too many pieces at once cool the oil and make tempura greasy.

Tokyo, tempura's home ground, still has houses that go back to the Edo and Meiji eras. Here are some of the best known, oldest first.

Founding years are from each shop's website and from articles and TV programmes. Hours, closing days and branch locations change, so check each shop's official information before you go.

In Asakusa, Sansada and Daikokuya are a short walk from Kaminarimon, and the scent of sesame oil drifts into the street. In Ginza, treat yourself to a counter seat, watch the chef at work and eat each piece as it comes out of the oil. In Shinjuku, Funabashiya and Tsunahachi are easy to drop into between shops.

• Eat it hot, right away. The longer tempura sits, the more moisture the batter picks up. Eat it as soon as it arrives.
• Sauce and daikon. Stir grated daikon into the tentsuyu dipping sauce and dip just the tip of the piece. The daikon refreshes your palate.
• Salt for the ingredient. Delicate pieces such as kisu, vegetables and squid are lovely with salt. There is no rule; switch between sauce and salt as you like.
• At the counter, eat as it comes. Chefs often serve one piece at a time. Do not let it sit: eating it straight away is what the cook will appreciate most.