Asupara no aamondo-age / asparagus tempura with almond slices

Succulent, sweet asparagus and toasty, crunchy almond slices. A must-have spring tempura for me.

<Ingredients>

4-5 stalks asparagus
2-3 tbsp almond slices

For tempura batter
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp potato starch
2 tbsp ice-cold water (not in photo)

Oil (for deep-frying, not in photo)
Salt or lemon salt (to serve with tempura, not in photo)


<Directions>
1.

Cut asparagus into 6-7 cm (optional).

2.
Start heating oil.


3.

Meanwhile, put flour and potato starch in a container, add water, and roughly mix. Batter should be loose instead of gooey, and it does not need to be fully incorporated.

Put almond slices on a plate or a shallow container.

Coat asparagus with batter, and then with almond slices.

4.

When oil is ready (fine bubbles emerge from the tips of bamboo chopsticks, or a drop of batter sinks for a moment and floats to the oil surface; approx. 175 C/350 F), gently put in asparagus, and fry on medium to medium high heat until done. Each piece should take only 1-2 minutes.

When almost ready, somewhat raise heat. Lift each piece, with one end still immersed in oil to return oil to the pan.

Remove the piece from oil while lightly shaking, and place on paper towel-lined plate.

5.

Serve hot with salt or lemon salt.

<Notes>

• Almond slices can be with or without skin. Finding fresh ones is more important. Those sold in bulk are likely to be fresher than bagged products.
• Tempura batter normally contains egg. Omitting egg results in a clean taste. If you prefer richer batter with egg, add 1 tsp or less or lightly beaten egg to batter.
• I usually add a pinch of salt to tempura batter, but in this recipe I’ve omitted it, as this is intended to be eaten with salt. Salt is better than tentsuyu dipping sauce in terms of bringing out the aroma and taste of asparagus.
• Batter should be prepared with cold ingredients (and kept cold if prepared in advance of deep-frying) for lighter results.
• Try this with asparagus in season (ideally, freshly harvested from your garden). It tastes a thousand times better than out-of-season asparagus.
• Eat immediately for the best flavor.