Tempura served with cold soba noodles

At the farmers market near home, I found some beautiful zucchini blossoms, they are delicious crisply fried and so I felt inspired to create a tempura menu, with prawns, scallops, shitake mushrooms, asparagus and Japanese shiso leaves. Here's the recipe for a fluffy and light batter (I had to double the ingredients for this meal). For the tempura sauce, it's best to grate yourself the turnip and ginger for a fresh taste, and add to the soy based dipping sauce....

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined, about 6 scallops, cleaned, and assorted vegetable (thickly sliced onions, shitake mushrooms, asparagus, zucchini blossoms etc.)
• 2 quarts oil for deep frying
• 1/4 cup self rising flour
• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 1/3 cup ice water
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Directions

1. Heat oil in deep-fryer or large wok to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, mix together self rising flour, ice water, cornstarch, egg yolk, salt, white sugar, and sesame oil
3. One at a time, dip shrimp into the flour mixture to coat. Carefully place a few shrimp at a time in the hot oil. Deep fry until golden brown on all sides, about 1 1/2 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove from oil. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with the scallops and vegetable.

For the soba, cook as per package instruction. Serve with soba dipping sauce, and with minced scallions and sea weed, and a little wasabi on the side, so people could add to the sauce themselves according to their preference.