Recipe Japanese Food: Kakiage soba
Tempura, the battered and fried morsels that serve as a good example of waf (Japanese-style) food, may have Portuguese roots. But although while the Portuguese are thought to have introduced a cuisine similar to tempura called peixinhos da horta somewhere in the 16th century, it is not very close to the tempura we are familiar with today.
In fact, it wasn't until the early 19th century that street vendors began offering their own takes on this Portuguese import alongside traditional Japanese fare like soba and sushi. Freshly fried, crunchy tempura was placed on top of bowls of hot soba noodles in soup.
The initial varieties of tempura soba were actually kakiage soba; the tempura utilized were the fritters of veggies and seafood bits that we now refer to as kakiage (which literally translates to "gathered and fried"). With this recipe, the fritters' tops stay crispy while the bottoms take on the flavorful characteristics of the noodle sauce.
As a supper, it's also affordable since you can make kakiage with any kind of refrigerator leftover vegetables, and it's seasonal because kakiage soba is a perfect alternative to the traditional year-end toshikoshi (year-crossing) soba.
2 portions
15 minutes for preparation
Time to cook: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
• 4 tablespoons dried sakura ebi (dried shrimp),
• 1 tablespoon hakurikiko (weak flour),
• 1 tablespoon katakuriko,
• 200 grams (2 bundles) dried soba noodles,
• 1 large onion,
• 1 medium carrot,
• 100 grams small frozen shrimp (potato starch)
For the batter, combine the following ingredients: 4 teaspoons hakurikiko, 6 tablespoons ice water, and frying oil.
For the noodle sauce, combine boiling water with Shichimi tgarashi chili pepper mix and 4 teaspoons of noodle sauce concentrate.
1. In boiling water, cook the soba noodles for 6 minutes. When finished, they should still have some firmness. Drain again and set aside after rinsing under running water.
2. Cut the carrot into thin matchstick-sized segments after slicing the onion thinly and against the grain into 5-centimeter pieces.
3. In a bowl, mix the onion, carrot, and both varieties of shrimp. Add the tablespoons of flour and potato starch on top. Mix well.
4. Rapidly stir the four tablespoons of flour into the ice water. No sticky batter should be present. Mix it into the mixture from step 3 after adding it.
5. Bring oil in a frying pan to 160 degrees Celsius. The mixture from step 4 should be filled into a soup ladle, which should then be carefully lowered into the hot oil to create a spherical fritter. Fry it for two minutes on one side until it has firmed up, then carefully flip it over and fry for a further two minutes on the other side. Repeat until the surface is slightly browned and crispy on both sides for two to three minutes each. Remove the fritters from the oil and let them air dry.
6. Repeat step 6 with the remaining batter; when finished, you should have six small fritters.
7. After heating the soba noodles thoroughly for one minute in plenty of boiling water, drain the noodles and divide them into two serving bowls.
8. Pour the 420 milliliters of boiling water and the concentrated noodle sauce over the noodles in the bowls. Add three fritters to each plate's top, then top with shichimi tgarashi. Serve instantly.