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Ricki's Japanese and Thai


desafinada

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It’s not so much the depth of oil in the wok ,saucepan or fryer ...there has to be sufficient volume of oil with enough heat source to prevent any drop in temperature when you immerse the shrimp...i.e.  cold batter,  cold shrimp leads to soggy ,greasy tempura. I have also used iced mineral water, 50/50 flour to corn starch ratio...even whipped egg white...but Ricky’s was usually better than mine !

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Depth is also relative to the shape of your utensil...I have always believed a wok is just an inefficient sauté pan unless you have a Chinese concave professional stove where the wok is submerged in the fire....a wok ring is a poor substitute, but better than nothing!

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Depth is also relative to the shape of your utensil...I have always believed a wok is just an inefficient sauté pan unless you have a Chinese concave oven where the wok is submerged in fire..a wok ring is however better than nothing.....

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If you read all the posts in this thread, you'll see that I have installed a large gas jet for two of my large burners to compensate. They produce a very large flame, and a very hot wok.

The Japanese use woks to cook tempura, so they must agree that it is efficient. You are a chef, I'm not, but I have been cooking Asian dishes for 40 years or so, and the wok is an incredibly versatile tool. Hotter at the bottom, and cooler along the upper edges, allows for a variety of techniques. Having said that, I probably won't attempt tempura here anyway, regardless of my stovetop.

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On 5/24/2018 at 12:27 PM, ComputerGuy said:

If you read all the posts in this thread, you'll see that I have installed a large gas jet for two of my large burners to compensate. They produce a very large flame, and a very hot wok.

The Japanese use woks to cook tempura, so they must agree that it is efficient. You are a chef, I'm not, but I have been cooking Asian dishes for 40 years or so, and the wok is an incredibly versatile tool. Hotter at the bottom, and cooler along the upper edges, allows for a variety of techniques. Having said that, I probably won't attempt tempura here anyway, regardless of my stovetop.

Wow! 40yrs!!? Surprised! 

As I have mentioned before  to prepare tempura is easy but small thing  varies the results a lot. 

Frying pans;

Any pan that holds sufficient oil do jobs OK, however, It is better to use pans with FLAT bottoms; the surface temp with Chinese concave pan varies a lot from point to point.

Generally we use the pans like below:https://www.google.co.jp/search?q=てんぷら鍋&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjRkJfDtKLbAhXLmpQKHYX4CNEQ_AUICygC&biw=1242&bih=579

 

To maintain the adequate temp of oil

1)    Use sufficient volume

2)    put less materials into a pan at a time

NB: The temp of oil raises /drops quicker than one of water

 

Mixture

1)    to make it cold

2)    to put potato starch or baking powder if your flour does not contain

(I would say upto 10% by weight) or use special tempura flour which you may find at

Japanese store, say Toyo stores in Guad.

NB: The objects of the above methods are to get less “Gluten” that creates greasy tempura

 

Saludos!

 

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Thanks. Would never have suspected to see flat bottoms, but with your link some memories are coming back. And good tips about the batter. BTW, tapioca starch/flour usually available at SuperLake, but not cheap. Perhaps better bulk prices at Toyo?

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Can you get Cake flour or cookie flour at Chapala area?  They  have less gluten and do the jobs. All purpose flour, bread flour or strong flour which has more gluten and can not be used for frying tempura.

You just need to add:

cold water, egg (if you like) or vinegar, potato starch or corn starch, vinegar and small amount of

"mayonnaise"  which really works in dehydrating the moisture of the materials.

Yes, you can get special flour for tempura at Toyo in Gdl. 

Buena noche!

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  • 3 months later...
On 5/19/2018 at 2:42 PM, ComputerGuy said:

Anyway, this is all moot. My point was a GOOD deep fryer... as long as the items are well-covered in oil and properly hot, it doesn't matter how deep it is. Tempura really depends on flash-frying for the best quality with the least amount of grease. Masayumo's, for example, is lovingly cut and cooked, and tasty but if you let it sit for two minutes, it congeals into a mess of coating and oil. Even Suehiro doesn't do it right. But I come from a town where there are several choices for superior, expertly-cooked tempura.

Perhaps time to retract the statement about TEMPURA at Masayumo only. Went there on Saturday, and had to complain about a few things... not the least of which were the tempura vegetables. A huge clump, which at first looked appetizing, and certainly different than the finely-sliced and bundled tempura our first time out. There were large masses of uncooked tempura batter spread throughout. Our complaint brought a typical reaction: "A new cook; I only do the sushi". They took the price off our final bill, without being asked.

The "Spider" soft-shelled crab cone was as good as ever, but the tuna sushi roll (tekka maki, 83p) was very tiny, and the tuna was tasteless and mushy, indicating not very fresh. California roll (no cream cheese) was fine, but to fill up we ordered the Teppanyaki (95p). What a mistake. Tasteless, under-cooked veg and sprouts, and bland chunks of chicken with a boring, over-cooked rice... made edible only because we poured our leftover sauces on it. It will be a long time before we go back. What a shame.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On September 26, 2018 at 4:32 PM, ComputerGuy said:

Perhaps time to retract the statement about TEMPURA at Masayumo only. Went there on Saturday, and had to complain about a few things... not the least of which was the tempura vegetables. A huge clump, which at first looked appetizing, and certainly different than the finely-sliced and bundled tempura our first time out. There were large masses of uncooked tempura batter spread throughout. Our complaint brought a typical reaction: "A new cook; I only do the sushi". They took the price off our final bill, without being asked.

They have corrected the problem at Masayume. I experienced the same undercooked, gooey vegetable tempura several weeks ago, and prior to that, I had enjoyed it several times when it was cooked perfectly. I went there tonight, sat outside, and saw the owner/chef so I asked, "Are you cooking tonight?" I mentioned the vegetable tempura problem the last time and he immediately stopped me and said, "I know. Undercooked. New chef then. It's fixed." Etc.

And it was. He came outside where I was seated to make sure and I gave him the thumbs up.

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