One vegan dish with fried vegetables and amazing dip that will take you on a journey!
Fried vegetables in batter are one of the classic ways of frying vegetables in traditional Greek cuisine. In modern cuisine, however, tempura is also used instead of batter. The most frequently used vegetables are courgettes, eggplants and onion rings. The choice is not accidental as they are highly enjoyable!
In our recipe we dip the vegetables in batter and fry them. But we can do exactly the same thing using tempura instead of batter. The difference is probably completely insignificant to most of us. Batter is basically flour with water (or another liquid, such as beer) that is mixed well to become a smooth paste, while tempura is flour with water that is mixed just for a few seconds and traditionally with chop sticks (Chinese chopsticks). Thus, tempura has a slightly different texture as the mixture is thinner but also has a lighter and crispier effect that comes from the very short mixing of the ingredients which does not create a smooth mush (like batter). In addition, it has a slightly different texture as some "balls" of flour remain that have not dissolved giving the characteristic texture.
While tempura has arrived in Greece mainly through Japanese cuisine, where we mostly find it in sushi restaurants, its origin seems to be from Portugal via Japan. It is said that the Portuguese were the ones who introduced this cooking method to the Japanese, who then made tempura famous as a… Japanese dish.
Our recipe is simple, quick and of course vegan! The result is incredibly delicious! Our vegetables with vegan batter the vegan tempura, especially accompanied by our uniquely delicious peanut butter and soy sauce dip, are perfect for an appetizer. The sauce also goes great with sushi. It is no coincidence that both have established themselves in Japanese cuisine. It is also no coincidence that they have been loved all over the world.
If you like our recipe, don't forget to try them our homemade vegan fried onions.
Our recipe is for fried vegetables but it can also be made with raw, fresh vegetables and they are just as delicious!
An additional suggestion of ours is to try our fried vegetables (in vegan batter or vegan tempura) inside sushi maki (sushi wrapped in nori seaweed). We recommend frying in olive oil (you can read our article “Frying¨Olive oil or seed oil?").
Try them out!
Vegan tempura (fried vegetables) with amazing peanut sauce with Asian notes
Ingredients
Vegetables for dipping
- 1 carrot
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 Florina pepper or red round
For the vegan tempura (batter)
- ½ cup blonde beer cold
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp corn flour
- ½ Tbsp baking powder
- salt
Oil for frying (we recommend olive oil)
Peanut Butter Dip (2 dips)
- 3/4 cup peanut butter
- ½ cup water
- 1 clove garlic small
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 from. fresh ginger or 2 pinches of powder
- 1 tsp Bukovo sweet optionally
Instructions
- Cut our vegetables into strips.
- Put in a fryer, deep pan or pot, heat the oil at a medium to high temperature.
- Make the vegan batter (or vegan tempura) by mixing all the ingredients well.
- Prepare the sauce for the dips, also mixing well all the ingredients for the peanut butter dip.
- We lay kitchen paper on a tray, platter or large plate to rest our grilled vegetables on.
- When the oil is hot (we don't want it to smoke, but we don't want it to burn too much either), we take a piece of our chopped vegetables, dip them in the batter, or tempura, to cover them and put them in the hot oil for a minute. We turn them on the other side for another minute and place them on kitchen paper. We want the batter (or tempura) to be just golden. We put them little by little in the oil, being careful not to touch each other when we pour them so that they don't stick together.
- Serve them immediately with the dip. If we want, sprinkle the dip with sweet (or hot) bukovo for a more beautiful presentation.
Notes
- Depending on our preferences, we can add to the dips:
- 1-2 tbsp. sweet bukovo or 1 tbsp. hot
- Extra soy sauce (to make it more salty)
- Extra ginger (for freshness, sparkle and a more spicy effect)
- Extra lemon (for acidity)
- Extra water (to make it more runny)
- Ideally, we make the peanut butter ourselves by simply beating peanuts (preferably unsalted peanuts) in a blender and, if necessary, adding a little olive oil or other vegan oil of our choice.
Nutrition
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