Tempura is one of the typical Japanese dishes consisting of ingredients such as seafood, meat, and vegetables wrapped in a cake flour and deep fried.
Tempura is said to have been introduced to Nagasaki by the Portuguese in the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568-1600) and spread as a common taste of Edo (formerly Tokyo) during the Edo period (1603-1867).
Typical ingredients include shrimp, squid, chicken, lotus root, sweet potato, eggplant, maitake mushroom, and perilla leaf(shiso).
Tempura is usually eaten with tempura dipping sauce called tentsuyu or salt, and in some cases, tempura is served with tempura sauce and grated radish.
Tempura and Soba
Tempura is served with rice, or in a bowl of rice topped with tempura, or with soba or udon noodles.