To avoid getting bored on Veggie Thursday’s, the one day in the week where I eat no meat (and to be honest, crave for on occasion), I’ve taken to experimenting with new vegetables and techniques. My endeavor for tonight was to finally use up the container of baby-corns the wifey and I had picked up on a whim a week or so ago, but had been too lazy make a Chinese dish out of as we’d originally intended. I was still not feeling like putting too much effort in to preparing them, so the answer simply was to go a little more East and prepare an easy, simple, Japanese-style tempura batter and deep fry them.

Ok, so this was a bit of an easy way out -  who doesn’t enjoy vegetables battered (the good kind involving flour and water) and deep-fried into an appetizers? But tempura-style deep frying involves no fussy seasonings and a very thin crust of batter, allowing the natural flavors of the vegetables to take the foreground. Deep frying them at a high temperature for very little time ensures a crispy exterior while keeping the amount of absorbed oil to a minimum. Just a few cracks of sea salt over the hot tempura is all the additional flavoring you need – like I said, not very fussy at all, and perfectly easy and appetizing for a tiring Thursday evening!

Babycorn has such a delicate flavor and an amazing texture – biting into the tempura add a little crunch to the rough and chewy vegetable. Corn is also a healthy, light vegetable which is available pretty much all year round around where I live, and now that I know an easy way to use up any babycorn we forget to use, it may just become a new staple around our house!

THE RECIPE: BABYCORN TEMPURA

YOU’LL NEED:

• 1 small container of Babycorns
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup ice-cold water
• salt to taste (preferably sea salt)
• Vegetable oil to fry

THE RECIPE:

• Pre-heat oil to 375degress
• Whisk together the water and flour to make a light batter
• Do NOT overmix; it is ok to leave some lumps in the batter
• Toss in babycorn pieces and mix to coat each piece fully with the batter
• Working in batches, immerse the babycorn into the oil and fry for 2-3 mins; remove when crispy and light brown
• Check the first batch in about 2mins; you don’t want the tempura to become dark brown

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

• Ensure the water is really ice-cold. I leave a few ice cubes in the batter to ensure it remains cold through the various batches; cold batter = crispy tempura.
• It bears repeating – do not overmix the batter. It is ok, in fact preferable if you want to be really authentic, to have some lumps in the batter. These lumps will lead to air-pockets that will blow up into nice crunchy holes in your tempura.
• This recipe works well for carrots and green peppers also. I usually throw in whatever other veggies I have on hand to the remaining batter – might as well use them up when the oil is hot!
• I first started using this batter to make Shrimp Tempura, one of my favorite dishes of all time, and will post a step-by-step of it at some point. Just be careful when using raw seafood – you may want to cook it a bit longer than the veggies.

A co-worker of mine has been pestering me for a couple of years now to try this Japanese restaurant for lunch; she raved about the mixed ‘boxes’ that offered a sampling of all their yummy seafood delicacies – a different sampler being offered every single day. Given that raw seafood is one of the only foods I don’t eat (more a matter of allergies than taste) I’ve steadfastly refused to go despite her constant reassurance that they offered ‘cooked’ items too. I finally relented today, on her last week at work for her going-away lunch, and boy did I realize what I was missing!

We ordered a couple of different samplers, filled with goodies like shrimp tempura, candied ginger, ginger fish with baby mushrooms, a fried pork pocket wrapped around asparagus and a japanese take on green beans. The star of the show was a fresh fillet of salmon bathed in sumptuous sweet and spicy asian barbecue sauce. I felt like ate for an hour but because everything was just light fresh seafood, I didnt feel weighed down – but didnt get hungry for quite a while after either. I realized why fresh fish is constantly pushed as a superstar health food - forget all those healthy omega 3 oils, this is just tasty food that really nourishes without filling you up completely.

Now, it will take me some time to learn some of the more intricate preparations we ate today (challenge accepted – Shrimp Tempura, here I come!) but over the summer I learn to make a simple and easy teriyaki salmon dish that, while not as painstakingly made as the restaurant dish, still yielded a deliciously flavored salmon that harldy took any time to put together. Starting off with pre-made teriyaki sauce (Kikkomans -  the horror!) cut down some of the time, but adding a few additional touches helps punch up the flavor. The best part? You can make this in the toaster oven - so in a few mins you can have a tasty and healthy fish dish ready for your weeknight dinner! This makes a great protein dish to serve with rice and boiled vegetables.

THE RECIPE: TERIYAKI SALMON

YOU’LL NEED:

• 1 lb Salmon Fillet (skin on)
• 4 tbsp pre-made Teriyaki Sauce
• 2tsp fresh Lime juice
• 2tsp Chili-Garlic sauce (like Sriracha)

THE METHOD:

• Cut Salmon Fillet (across grain) into small rectangular pieces (3inch by 1inch)
• Mix rest of ingredients in a bowl, and marinate salmon (in bowl or plastic bag) for 10-30mins
• Preheat broiler (can use toaster oven)
• Remove fish pieces from marinade and place on baking sheet with skin side down
• Broil for about 10 mins depending on how you like your salmon – I like mine not to overcook and am ok with it being a little pink in the middle.
• Baste every 2 mins with marinade if you want the fish to not dry out too much.
• Serve over hot white rice with a side of boiled vegetables

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

• You can leave the salmon fillet whole, but pre-cutting helps cook the pieces faster.
• Don’t be scared off by the chili-garlic sauce – it just adds a little bit of warmth to the fish, not spiciness.
• Though I normally take leftovers for lunch, be warned that reheating in the microwave brings out the fishy aroma! Best to finish all the fish for dinner or save for a home meal rather than stink up the office lunch room!