Tempura Donburi (天ぷら丼) is a Tempura bowl, fried vegetables and seafood over rice with sauce. It is also called Tendon for short. It is one of the favorite rice bowl dishes in Japan, and very easily found in many stores and restaurants there.
Tendon is said to have been invented sometime in the 1800s in the Tokyo area. It is literally Tempura vegetables and seafood on top of Steamed Rice in a bowl (Donburi). There are many ways to make and prepare Tendon. The sauce is flavored with Soy Sauce and Mirin. Sometimes the sauce is directly poured over the rice and Tempura, or Tempura may be dipped in the sauce first and placed over rice, or both. The sauce can be thin and milder like Mentsuyu, or it may be a much thicker and stronger one depending on where you get it.
Ingredients for the Tempura for Tendon can be whatever you like. We used Kabocha squash, Renkon lotus root, eggplant, Shiitake mushroom, Shiso leaves, and shrimp which are all standard items for Tempura. If they’re hard to find at your local markets, use other vegetables you like, such as green beans, brown onions, or sweet potatoes. You can also use thinly sliced meat like chicken instead of shrimp if you prefer. The batter for Tempura in Tendon should be a little thicker so that it can absorb the tasty savory sauce without becoming too soft too quickly.
Donburi, rice bowl dishes, are usually a more casual-looking food than a meal with entree, soup and rice, so it is often considered as lunch rather than dinner. Tendon can be found at noodle shops like Soba or Udon restaurants which are popular lunch spots in Japan. You can also buy Tendon at Bento shops and deli sections of supermarkets. And of course at Tempura restaurants. When you make Tendon at home, however, it can certainly be served as dinner since it is not a quick food to make for lunch.
You need to invest a little time for shopping and preparation (and cleaning afterward) to make Tempura Donburi, but hot and fresh Tempura with yummy sauce over rice is just superb. You won’t regret eating it, we promise. So try making Tendon at home!
Tempura Donburi Recipe
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Ingredients
- 2 slices Kabocha squash
- 2 slices Renkon lotus root
- 2 Shiitake mushrooms
- 1 Japanese eggplant
- 2 shrimp
- 2 Shiso leaves
- deep-frying oil
- 2 bowls steamed rice
Sauce
Batter
- 1/4 cup 35 g cake flour
- 1/4 cup Katakuriko potato starch
- 1/2 cup 120 ml cold water
- 1/2 egg
Instructions
- Cut 2 pieces of Kabocha squash, 1/4″ (6 mm) thick. Peel and slice 2 pieces of lotus root, 1/4″ (6 mm) thick. Remove stems from mushrooms. Make decorative cuts on the surface of mushrooms if you like (watch video). Cut eggplant in quarters vertically. Make 1/4″ slices vertically and fan out. Sprinkle potato starch lightly over eggplant (not in the ingredients list). Peel shrimp and make diagonal cuts on shrimp to help straighten. Remove moisture well from all the ingredients. Cover with plastic and keep in the fridge until ready to use.
- Make the sauce. Put all the ingredients for the sauce in a pot, heat, and let boil for a minute. Remove Katsuo or Dashi packet. Cover and keep sauce warm.
- Make batter. Sift cake flour and potato starch. Mix cold water and egg in a medium bowl. Add flour to egg mixture, and mix with chopsticks. Do not mix too much.
- Heat oil oil to high temperature (375F). Dip vegetables and shrimp in batter, and deep-fry until they float and are cooked through.
- Put some sauce over the steamed rice. Dip Tempura in the sauce and place on top of rice.
Video
Deep Frying Pan we use (product link): Yoshikawa MIRAKU-TEI, Tempura deep Fryer with a Thermometer and a lid, Dia. 20cm (7.9 in.) SJ1024
