Cut the sweet potatoes: begin by washing the 2 large purple sweet potato in cold water then cutting into 1/2cm round slices leaving the skin on.
Prepare the white fish: wash your fish, any firm white fish will do. Cut into chunks around 6 × 3cm or leave whole depending on preference. Pat all of the ingredients dry with kitchen paper, place on a plate and keep in the fridge prior to cooking. Chilled ingredients are important to help form a crispy tempura batter.
Prepare the tempura batter: mix 200g of tempura flour with 320ml of iced water to make the batter. The colder the batter and ingredients before frying, the lighter and crispier your tempura will be. You can add ice cubes to keep your batter extra cold and don’t worry about a few lumps, they create crunch.
Heat a pan and fill with oil: grab a heavy-bottomed pan and fill it approximately 2/3 with oil before heating to 160-170°C (you could use a deep fat fryer to regulate the temperature). A thick pan is best to retain the temperature, an iron wok is even better. Check the oil is at the right temperature by dropping a splash of batter into the oil. If it sizzles the oil is ready.
Coat the ingredients with tempura batter: dust the ingredients with a little plain flour, then dip into the batter, covering completely before adding straight to the hot oil. Cook you sweet potato first to retain the oil’s temperature before cooking your larger fish pieces after.
Deep fry the ingredients: place the battered ingredients with your chopsticks one by one into the oil and cook for a minute or so on each side until the batter turns golden. Don’t cook too many pieces at one time as it will lower the oil’s temperature.
Remove the ingredients from the oil: place onto a wire rack. Serve whilst piping hot with tomato ketchup or our recommended dips of wasabi mayo, curry powder and yuzu salt in separate small dishes.
