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Kakiage is a mixed vegetable tempura fritter that's ultra-light and crispy.
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Kakiage Vegetable Tempura

This vegetable tempura or Kakiage (かき揚げ) is a light and crispy Japanese fritter made with onions, carrots, green beans and mushrooms held together in a delicate matrix of tempura batter. In this guide to making kakiage, I'm going to show you all the secrets to making this ultra-crisp Japanese appetizer.
Course Appetizer
Cuisine Japanese
Keyword deep-fried
Level Beginner
Main Ingredient Vegetable
Diet Dairy-Free, Low Sugar, Pescatarian, Vegan, Vegetarian
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 6 kakiage
Calories 75kcal
Author Marc Matsumoto

Equipment

Ingredients

  • Vegetable oil (for frying)
  • 150 grams onions (~½ onion, peeled & sliced)
  • 100 grams green beans (trimmed and cut into 1 ½-inch lengths)
  • 70 grams carrots (½ carrot, julienned)
  • 70 grams maitake mushroom (shredded)
  • 80 grams cake flour (scant ⅔ cup)
  • ½ cup club soda (cold)
  • Sea salt (for serving)
  • ½ lemon (cut into wedges for garnish)
Grams + US Cups - US Standard

Instructions

  • Add 1.5 to 2-inches of Vegetable oil into a deep, heavy-bottomed pot and preheat to 355 degrees F (180 C). Prepare a wire rack by lining it with a few layers of paper towels.
    Vegetable oil
  • Add the 150 grams onions, 100 grams green beans, 70 grams carrots, 70 grams maitake mushroom, and 80 grams cake flour to a bowl and toss the vegetables in the flour.
    150 grams onions, 100 grams green beans, 70 grams carrots, 70 grams maitake mushroom, 80 grams cake flour
    Tossing onions, carrots maitake, and green beans with flour to make tempura.
  • When the oil is ready, add the ½ cup club soda to the vegetables and stir using a folding motion with chopsticks to distribute the flour into the water. It should be barely mixed, and a few lumps of unmixed flour is okay.
    ½ cup club soda
    Mixed vegetables with tempura batter.
  • Scoop up some veggies and batter onto a wide spatula and shape it into a patty.
    Kakiage tempura mixture being loaded onto a spatula.
  • Dunk the whole spatula into the oil and use chopsticks or another spatula to slide the vegetables into the oil. Repeat to make additional fritters.
    Adding kakiage tempura fritter to hot oil to deep-fry.
  • Fry the Kakiage until it's crisp on one side, and then flip it over and crisp the second side (it should take about 5 minutes in total).
    Frying a Japanese vegetable fritter, or kakiage.
  • Drain the tempura well as you remove it from the oil, and then transfer it to your prepared rack.
    Draining fried vegetable tempura on paper towels.
  • Serve on a sheet of paper, along with a side of Sea salt and a wedge of ½ lemon.
    Sea salt, ½ lemon

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 75kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 17mg | Potassium: 184mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 2072IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 1mg