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I got addicted to deep frying since I started making batter at home. 

A lot of other batter recipes won’t need a beer, but being in the UK, it just feels more authentic to use beer, as they do with the beer-battered fish in fish and chips. The beer is the key to a fluffy yet light and crispy batter. 

The type of beer you use in the batter also makes a big difference. The best batter I made was with this Dutch lager Bavaria, but Chinese Tsingtao works well too.

I use this beer batter for fish, and deep-fried chicken balls (Chinese takeaway style), and most of the time, I use it for vegetable tempura, for example, aubergine and sweet potatoes. I’ve also used this batter for onion rings a million times. Absolutely love it!

Ingredients

Beer Batter

200g self-raising flour
100ml warm water
200ml beer (lager works well)
1 tbsp oil

Method

1. Add self-raising flour in a large bowl, add oil and warm water. 
2. Pour in the beer and whisk until smooth.
3. You can put the leftover batter in the fridge and use the next day, or maybe on the day after. The batter will go flat and the bubbles will be mostly gone, so the batter will be thinner and won’t be as fluffy as the first day. But still does the job – make things crispy!

I use this tempura beer batter a lot, mostly with aubergine and sweet potatoes, sometimes sweet pepper, and onion rings!

Making Vegetable Tempura

1. Cut the aubergine or sweet potatoes into slices, or if making onion rings, cut the onion into rings.
2. Dredge each slice in the flour and shake off the excess.
3. Dip each slice in the batter, allow excess to drip back into the bowl.
4. Deep fry for a few minutes until golden.

Note: Aubergine absorbs a lot of oil when deep frying. I always put them on a kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil before serving.

Indeed, this sweet potato tempura is very similar to the Wagamama yasai katsu curry, except that in their official recipe they also toss the sweet potato in panko crumbs before deep frying.

For a complete Chinese takeaway night-in, try these authentic recipes that I LOVE:

What’s your favourite food to dip in the batter? Share with me in the comments below!

Janice xx

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