Shrimp Tempura Bento Best Recipe

Published May 22, 2019 Updated Oct 17, 2024

What Is Shrimp Tempura

Even though shrimp tempura is an iconic Japanese food, it originated from Portugal. Just like some other popular Japanese dishes, the talented Japanese chefs and home cooks had perfected the original recipes and make them uniquely Japanese. While you can get shrimp tempura at many Japanese restaurants, it’s a dish that’s easy enough to make at home, with a few store-bought ingredients. For example: this gorgeous looking shrimp tempura bento takes about 40 minutes to make, including the assembling time. Moving forward, a perfect tempura should be crispy with a yellowish/golden, lacy exterior.

Ingredients For Shrimp Tempura Recipe

Shrimp Rice Flour Baking Powder Salt Egg yolk Oil Ice Cubes

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.

Cooking Tips

A great tempura lies in the batter, which should produce crispy, airy, light, and non-greasy tempura. Ice cold water and ice cubes are very important ingredients to the batter, and the deep-frying technique and the oil temperature are key to achieving the crispy lacy effect. A little baking powder also makes the batter crispier. The batter should be made just before the deep-frying. When making the batter, use a pair of chopsticks to stir the batter. Do not over-stir it as it should stay a little lumpy. Right before you use the batter, add in a few ice cubes and stir to combine with the batter. This loosens up the batter and chills it further to provide an airy, fluffy, and crispy exterior of the tempura. Cut off the pointed tail of the shrimp to avoid the shrimp from splattering while frying. (See picture guide in the recipe below.) To make a quick and easy tempura dipping sauce, use Mizkan (Bonito Flavored) Soup Base and dilute with warm water. The perfect ratio is 1:5. Add a little grated daikon and you have the perfect dipping sauce.

Tempura Dipping Sauce

For this recipe, I used Mizkan (Bonito Flavored) Soup Base and diluted it with water. For homemade tempura dipping sauce, you will need dashi, mirin, soy sauce, and sugar mixed in a sauce pan and boiled. Pair this with daikon radish and you have a delicious dipping sauce!

What To Serve With Shrimp Tempura

This meal is best served as a side dish. For a wholesome Japanese meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes. I hope you enjoy this post as much as I do. If you try my recipe, please leave a comment and consider giving it a 5-star rating. For more easy and delicious recipes, explore my Recipe Index, and stay updated by subscribing to my newsletter and following me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for new updates.