Tempura vegetables with paper of raw vegetables

Not yet rated

This delightfully vibrant vegetarian starter from Fabrizio Marino, showcases vegan cuisine at its best – as you'd expect from the head chef of Italy's only Michelin-starred vegetarian restaurant! The vegetables used for the tempura can be changed according to seasonality making this lively starter, with the crunch of tempura batter, tang of citrus and powerful wasabi pesto kick, perfect to serve any time of year.

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Tempura vegetables

  • 100g of glutinous rice flour
  • 100g of rice flour
  • 100g of buckwheat flour
  • 345ml of water, cold
  • red pepper, sliced into strips 2cm wide
  • 1 carrot, halved lengthways and then cut in half across
  • 1 courgette, sliced in rounds
  • 2 asparagus spears, halved lengthways

Sweet and sour dip

  • 500g of water
  • 210g of tamari
  • 20g of cane sugar
  • 2g of liquorice powder
  • 10g of cornflour, mixed with water to make a paste
  • 5g of orange zest, and mandarin zest
  • 3g of yuzu koshō
  • 40g of yuzu juice
  • 100g of orange juice
  • 30g of beetroot juice

Paper of raw vegetables

Wasabi pesto

  • 300g of peas, fresh or frozen
  • 20g of wasabi paste
  • salt to season
  • 10g of extra virgin olive oil

Method

1
For the dip, boil the water with the tamari, sugar, liquorice and the cornflour paste. Season the broth with the citrus zest and juice, yuzukoshō and beetroot juice. Allow to cool and leave to infuse overnight, then pass through a sieve and set aside until ready to serve
  • 500g of water
  • 210g of tamari
  • 20g of cane sugar
  • 2g of liquorice powder
  • 10g of cornflour, mixed with water to make a paste
  • 5g of orange zest, and mandarin zest
  • 3g of yuzu koshō
  • 40g of yuzu juice
  • 100g of orange juice
  • 30g of beetroot juice
2
For the paper of raw vegetables, cut the vegetables very thinly using a knife or mandoline slicer. Arrange the pieces on a plate with kitchen towel, overlapping to form a rectangle. Brush the vegetables with oil, lemon juice and salt and leave until the kitchen towel has absorbed the excess moisture
3
Preheat a deep fryer to 180℃
4
For the tempura, combine the water and flours together in a bowl and whisk well to form a batter. Place the batter into the fridge to chill for 5–10 minutes
  • 100g of glutinous rice flour
  • 100g of rice flour
  • 100g of buckwheat flour
  • 345ml of water, cold
5
Meanwhile, prepare the wasabi pesto. Blanch the peas in salted boiling water for 3 minutes and refresh in iced water. Drain well and dry, then blend the peas and the wasabi paste together until smooth. Season with salt and oil and set aside until ready to serve
  • 300g of peas, fresh or frozen
  • 20g of wasabi paste
  • salt to season
  • 10g of extra virgin olive oil
6
Dip the sliced tempura vegetables into the batter and coat evenly on all sides. Deep fry the vegetables until pale gold and crispy, leaving to drain a little on kitchen paper before serving
7
Peel the vegetable paper from the kitchen towel and place on a chopping board, cutting into four clean rectangles
8
To serve, place a rectangle of vegetable paper in the middle of each plate. Arrange the tempura vegetables around the outside and add a dollop of the wasabi pesto. Serve the sweet and sour dipping sauce on the side
First published in 2015

Fabrizio Marino is the poster boy for a new wave of Italian chefs.

Get in touch

Please sign in or register to send a comment to Great British Chefs.

You may also like

Load more