Edomae tempura

Background

Tempura is a Japanese dish of seafood and vegetables coated in a thin batter and deep-fried. It is generally believed that in the 16th century the Portuguese brought the Western method of battering and frying to Nagasaki, giving rise to the more heavily seasoned "Nagasaki tempura", which then spread to Kansai and reached Edo after the shogunate was established there. In the Edo period, tempura was mostly fried to order at food stalls (yatai), skewered on bamboo sticks and eaten standing, using Edomae fish and shrimp from the Nihonbashi fish market, and was counted with soba and sushi as the "three flavors of Edo". The word "tenfura" first appears in the Shokudōki, published in 1669. Shop-based tempura restaurants appeared only around the end of the Edo period, and high-end ryotei-style specialty restaurants came after the Meiji era. After the Great Kanto Earthquake, unemployed craftsmen took Edomae tempura to other parts of the country.

Local customs

• Specialist restaurants usually have a counter where the chef places each piece on the paper in front of you as soon as it is fried
• it is best eaten hot, right away. You can dip it in tentsuyu (with grated daikon) or sprinkle it with salt: delicate fish and vegetables suit salt, while prawns and anago (conger eel) suit tentsuyu. The fried items come in the chef's order, usually finishing with tendon, tencha or rice with miso soup.

Religion & beliefs

• Tempura itself has no direct connection with religion
• however, "shojin-age", fried vegetables without fish or meat, comes from the shojin ryori (vegetarian cuisine) of Buddhist temples and can be found around temples and at vegetarian restaurants. In the Edo period, tempura was a street-stall snack of the townspeople, with no fixed link to visits to temples and shrines.

Rules that apply here

Travel tips

• Tempura in Tokyo ranges from tendon bowls costing a few hundred yen and kakiage at stand-up soba shops to counter courses that require a reservation, so prices vary widely. For the traditional Edomae style, try the long-established restaurants around Asakusa, Nihonbashi and Ginza
• for a cheaper taste, have tendon or tempura soba. Specialist counters have few seats and dinner usually needs to be booked in advance, while lunch courses are generally easier to reserve. Dietary notes: tempura is deep-fried and contains wheat flour and egg (in the batter), so people allergic to gluten, eggs or shellfish should tell the restaurant in advance
• some places fry in sesame oil, so people with sesame allergies should say so too. You can combine it with a stroll around Senso-ji and Nihonbashi. Prices and opening hours are set by each restaurant
• popular old establishments often have queues, so going outside peak mealtimes is more relaxed.