Step 1

Place your water and ice cubes into a glass and let them combine. (If you are already using water that is very cold then you can skip this step.)

Step 2

Pour your flour, egg and cold water into a large bowl.

Step 3

Stir together until just about combined, but make sure that you don’t over mix. The mixture does not need to be smooth and can be a little lumpy.

Step 4

Before you start dipping the vegetables into your batter, make sure that they are all peeled and sliced into thin pieces.

Step 5

Lightly coat your vegetable pieces in flour. (This step is optional, but it can help the batter stick to your veg better.)

Step 6

Pour oil into a large wok or saucepan until it is one third full, and heat up over a medium-high heat.

Step 7

Dip vegetables into the batter one at a time to lightly coat, starting with the root vegetables (any veg that is grown underground).

Step 8

Gently shake off any excess batter, as too much batter will make your tempura too crispy on the outside and too mushy on the inside.

Step 9

Add your veggie slices to the saucepan a few pieces at a time and begin deep frying. Don’t add too many pieces as this will drop the temperature of the oil.

Step 10

Fry root vegetables for 3-4mins and non-root vegetables for 1-2mins, or until the batter is crispy and golden. Turn each piece about halfway to cook both sides.

Step 11

Your shiso leaves will fry very fast, so sprinkle a little flour onto the back of the leaves and dip only the back into the batter. Deep fry for 15 seconds.

Step 12

Transfer your tempura veg onto a cooling rack or plate lined up with paper towels to remove any excess oil.

Step 13

Serve immediately with dipping sauce or as a dish with rice or noodles, and enjoy.