Miso-glazed Aubergine with Tempura Pepper

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1. leviathanfood November 17, 2021

   I spent quite a bit of time developing a tempura recipe that yields light and crisp results at home. This recipe is vegan and delicious and the pepper works very well with the sweet and salty aubergine. There is a tempura guide below the recipe with tips and troubleshooting.

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   **Ingredients:**

   ​

   *Aubergines*

   2 aubergines

   2 tbsp. mirin

   2 tbsp. rice wine vinegar

   2 tbsp. sesame oil

   1 tbsp. white sugar

   2 tbsp. white miso paste

   ​

   *tempura & batter*

   1 whole pepper

   2 heaped tbsp. cake flour

   1 heaped tbsp. rice flour

   1/4 tsp. baking soda

   100ml ice-cold sparkling water

   pinch of salt

   canola oil for frying

   **Method:**

   1. Preheat oven to 180° C (355° F). Slice the aubergines lengthways in two and score them
   with a criss-crossed diamond pattern along the white interior section. Heat some oil in a pan
   and place them with this side down and fry for a couple of minutes until they brown and
   caramelise. Turn them over and cook the skin side for another few minutes while you make
   you the glaze. Add more oil if needs be, as the aubergines can soak it up.

   2. Mix the mirin, miso, sesame oil, sugar and vinegar together to make a paste. Take the
   aubergines out of the pan and lay them on a baking tray, skin side down with the white
   facing up. Smear the paste liberally over each one until it is used up and place the tray in the
   oven to bake for approximately 25 minutes. The glaze will bubble and brown and get some
   nice charred bits, just be mindful that it doesn’t burn. Take them out and plate them up,
   ready for the tempura topping.

   3. Slice the pepper up into thin even strips. Make the tempura batter by sifting the dry
   ingredients into a bowl and gently mixing with the cold sparkling water. Do not over mix it.
   Some lumps are fine. Put your oil on. Dust the pepper in some flour and shake the excess off
   before adding to the batter and frying.

   **Tempura Guide:**

   When done correctly, tempura is very light and crisp and keeps the integrity, flavour and
   texture of the vegetables intact. Below are some tips and troubleshooting.
   – Aim for a frying temperature of between 170°C and 180°C (335°F and 350°F). If you don’t
   have a thermometer, you can test to see if the oil is ready by dropping a little bit of the
   batter in. If it bubbles up and starts to sizzle immediately then your oil is hot enough.

   Tempura that comes out too oily and a bit soft is most likely due to the oil not being hot
   enough. Remember to use a heavy-bottomed pot with tall walls. Adding too much at the
   same time can reduce the temperature of the oil and it can also make the oil boil over the
   side, so be careful and add a few bits at a time. Take the bowl over and dip the pepper in,
   allow the excess to fall off and gently and confidently drop it into the pot.

   Do not over mix your batter. We use cake flour and rice flour because of the low gluten
   content. This makes for a very light batter. The baking soda and the ice cold carbonated
   water also helps with this. You can use chopsticks to gently mix it. I like to use a large spoon
   to gently turn it and break up some of the lumps. You may need to add an extra drop of
   water to get a consistency that is not overly thick but that can comfortably coat the
   vegetables.

   Serve the tempura and eat it as soon as possible. It doesn’t do too well sitting around for
   too long. When you take it out of the oil hold it for two seconds over the pot to let the
   excess drip off and then sit in on a wired tray before topping your dish.

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