Tempura Sauce Recipe

Tempura sauce is also known as tempura dipping sauce or tentsuyu in Japanese. Tempura is actually food coated in a light batter, which is then deep-fried in Japanese style. Like I have mentioned, seafood and root vegetables are popularly used for making tempura dishes. Any tempura dish is incomplete unless it is paired with dipping sauces. The taste of the tempura sauce differs depending on the season. Hence the tempura sauce recipe differs in summer, where it is heavy, and in winter, where it is light.

Recipe for Tempura Sauce
This is a basic recipe for tempura dipping sauce, which can be modified to make it suitable for your own palate. The ingredients can be subtracted or added depending to suit your personal liking. This recipe mentions mirin. It is a form of Japanese rice wine, which is more sugary and sweet and has very less alcohol content. The alcohol content can be as low as 0% in it.

Ingredients

• Light and Low Sodium Vegetable Broth 1 cup
• Mirin (preferable) or Sweet Sherry 1/3 cup
• Soy Sauce ⅓ cup
• Horseradish 1" 1
• Grated Ginger to taste
• Lemon Juice 1 teaspoon
• MSG ½ teaspoon

Method

• In a saucepan, blend soy sauce, mirin, vegetable broth and MSG over medium low heat.
• Bring it to a boil and remove from heat.
• Add grated horseradish, ginger and lemon juice to the sauce and stir well.
• Serve the tempura sauce with tempura seafood or tempura vegetables.

Tempura Dipping Sauce Recipe - Vegetarian
This sauce is a used with vegetarian tempura dishes. It is also known as Nara style tempura dip sauce. With this recipe, you will be able to make 1 ⅓ cup of tempura sauce.

Ingredients

• Light Vegetable Stock 1½ cup
• Kombu 3 inch piece
• Soy Sauce 2½ tablespoons
• Mirin 3 tablespoons
• Peeled and Finely Grated Ginger Root 1 teaspoon
• Grated Daikon Radish 2 teaspoons
• Silvered Green Onions for garnishing

Method

• In a saucepan, combine vegetable stock and kombu and bring it to a simmer.
• Do not cover the saucepan and let it simmer at low heat.
• Remove kombu from the sauce pan and reserve it for another use.
• Add soy sauce and mirin and let the sauce simmer over low heat for 1 minute.
• Remove the sauce pan from heat and add ginger root, daikon and silvered green onions and serve the hot dip.

Tempura Dipping Sauce Recipe - Non Vegetarian
This recipe makes use of Bonito fish flakes. If you are making seafood tempura, then this is the sauce which you will want to go with it. With this sauce recipe, you will be able to make about 1½ cups of tempura sauce.

Ingredients

• Water 1½ cups
• Kombu 3 inch piece
• Bonito Fish Flakes 2 tablespoons
• Soy Sauce 2 tablespoons
• Mirin 2 tablespoons
• Grated Ginger Root 1 teaspoon
• Grated Daikon Radish 2 teaspoons
• Silvered Green Onion for garnishing

Method

• Combine water and kombu in a saucepan and keep it aside for 15 minutes.
• Then bring the water to a gentle simmer, uncovered over low heat.
• Remove kombu from the sauce pan and keep it aside for another use.
• Remove the sauce pan from heat and add bonito fish flakes.
• Let the bonito fish flakes settle in water for 5 minutes.
• Then strain the broth and remove flakes.
• Also remember to squeeze all liquid from the fish flakes and discard the flakes.
• Now add soy and mirin and bring the sauce to a gentle simmer over low heat for 2 minutes.
• Remove the sauce pan from heat and add grated ginger root, daikon radish and silvered green onions.

Making tempura sauce is easy to make, but it always recommended to make them just before they are eaten so that they taste better.