Sarah Raven’s Summer Garden Tempura

Prep Time – 30 minutes

Cook Time – 3-6 minutes

Serves 10-12

Ingredients

• Bunch of sage
• 1 aubergine, cut into discs
• 1/3 butternut squash
• Bunch of Curly kale
• 750ml sunflower or groundnut oil
• 2 handfuls of French beans, tops and tails left on
• 2 red or green sweet peppers, cut into strips or, if small, deseeded but kept whole
• 3-4 mild chillies, such as Hungarian wax, with stems
• 4 courgettes, cut in half or whole if small
• 3 courgette flowers
• 2 globe artichoke hearts, cooked
• 8 nasturtium flowers
• A few roots (beetroot, mini carrots, sweet potato), cooked briefly and sliced into bite-sized sections
• Sea salt and black pepper

For the tempura batter

• 150g plain flour
• 100g cornflour
• 10g baking powder
• 500ml sparkling water cold
• Plenty of salt and black pepper

Serve with the following sauces:

• Sweet chilli dipping sauce (bought)
• Green mayonnaise (see recipe below)
• Tamari soy sauce

Method:

• First make the tempura batter. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl with the salt and pepper and make a dip in the centre. With a balloon whisk, mix the cold water or lager to make a batter the thickness of double cream but not too smooth. Keep this in in the fridge until you need it.
• Pour the oil into a deep pan so that it reaches about one-third of the way up the side. Heat the oil until it reaches about 170˚C. if you don’t have an oil thermometer, it’s easy to test the temperature: drop a cube of bread into the oil. It should turn golden brown in less than a minute.
• Dip the vegetables, herbs and flowers into the batter, a few at a time, and then into the hot oil until pale gold and crisp. Drain them on kitchen paper.
• These are at their best eaten hot, sprinkled with sea salt and ground black pepper.
• Serve with green mayonnaise (recipe below) or with soy sauce or sweet chilli sauce. Or with all three

Additional notes – If you boil purple French beans, they turn a dark grey-green. By dipping them raw and whole into tempura batter and then shallow-frying them, they stay looking fantastic and taste even better. Mix them with mini peppers, courgette flowers, aubergines and carrots for a wonderful plate of garden vegetable tempura.

Sarah’s Green Mayonnaise recipe

Serve 8-10

Ingredients:

• 1 good handful of mixed green herbs (half parsley, with the other half made up from on or all of chives, fennel, chervil and sorrel)
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 275ml sunflower oil (or 100ml olive oil and 175ml sunflower oil)
• Salt and black pepper

Method:

1. Finely chop your herbs by hand or in a food processor. Add the egg yolk, whole lemon juice and Dijon mustard, and whisk for a few seconds. While beating with a whisk, or with the motor running, add the oil in a slow stream and the mayonnaise will thicken. Season well.

Note: If your mayonnaise curdles, you can rescue it by putting another beaten egg yolk into a jug or bowl and, while whisking continuously, pouring the rogue mayonnaise into this in a thin stream. Mayonnaise will keep in the fridge for at least 5 days, stored in an airtight container.