History of Tempura

The Origin of Tempura, batter frying, in Japan goes back to the mid-16th century. Japan was a closed-port country with limited trading access with few Chinese and Dutch traders. The concept of batter frying was brought by the Portuguese, along with Catholicism. The word “Tempura” derived from the Latin word of “Tempora”, which refers to “The Ember Days (quattuor anni tempora)”, when Catholics refrain from eating meat. Tempura is known as the favorite dish of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Tokugawa/Edo era.

Sushi Yoshi’s Tempura

Using the right ingredients is the key to creating good tempura. In addition to the tempura flour from Japan, chef Yoshi likes to use Brown Rice Oil for his tempura. “It fries much crispier and the oil doesn’t stay on the food too much” says Yoshi. In the course of his 10+ years of culinary training in Japan, he went through a process called “Hassunba 八寸場”. This took place in his second year of the apprenticeship where he learned how to cut the vegetables properly.

Why is it so important to cut the vegetables in the right way? This is to make sure that the vegetables are cooked evenly at the same time. If there is difference in thickness and size, some parts of the vegetable may be over-cooked while some may be under-cooked.

What is the best way to eat tempura?

The most common way to eat tempura is using Ten-tsuyu dipping sauce. The sauce is usually made with fish-stock, mirin, and soy sauce. Grated daikon radish or ginger may be served with it to add some zing to the sauce. Some also prefer to eat the tempura with just dipping salt (plain sea salt or mixed with other spices such as matcha, or sansho).

At Sushi Yoshi, we serve tempura for both Lunch and Dinner.  Our tempura dinners offer a variety of ingredients for you to try out such as vegetables, shrimp, fish, lobster and other seafood combinations. Come and taste our fresh tempura, fried fresh with each order. Hot and crispy!

View tempura Lunch menu >>>
View tempura Dinner menu >>>

Please call 720.304.0300 to make your reservation

Tempura dish on our menu