Tempura

Allergens at a glance

• UsuallyGlutenThe batter is wheat flour; the tentsuyu dipping sauce contains soy sauce.
• UsuallyEggsMost batters are mixed with egg; some shops use only flour and water.
• UsuallyCrustaceansPrawn (shrimp) is the standard piece, and everything shares the frying oil.
• UsuallyFishTentsuyu is made with bonito dashi; whiting and other white fish are common.
• UsuallySoySoy sauce in the tentsuyu and in the sweet sauce on tendon rice bowls.
• OftenSesameTokyo-style shops often fry in sesame oil or a blend containing it.
• OftenMolluscsSquid and small scallops, common in mixed platters and kakiage fritters.

Usually in the standard recipe. Often in many versions. Sometimes in some kitchens, or a cross-contact risk.

Diets

• Vegetable tempura exists, but it is usually fried in the same oil as seafood and served with fish-based sauce.
• Not suitable for coeliacs (celiacs): wheat batter and soy sauce, and gluten-free batter is rare in Japan.
• Halal is uncommon: the dipping sauce and tendon sauce usually contain mirin.

Recipes change from kitchen to kitchen. If you have an allergy, confirm every ingredient with the restaurant before you order.

What is tempura?

Tempura is seafood and vegetables coated in a light batter and deep-fried, served piece by piece at a counter or as a platter. The batter is mixed cold and barely stirred, so it fries thin and crisp rather than bready. The technique is generally credited to Portuguese traders and missionaries in the 16th century, and it became a Tokyo street food in the Edo period.

What's in it

The batter is wheat flour (often a low-protein flour), cold water and usually egg. Common pieces:

• Seafood: prawn (the signature), whiting (kisu), squid, conger eel (anago), small scallops
• Vegetables: sweet potato, aubergine (eggplant), pumpkin, shiitake, green pepper, lotus root, shiso leaf
• Kakiage: a fritter of shredded vegetables, often with small prawns or scallops

It comes with tentsuyu (dashi, soy sauce and mirin) and grated daikon, or with plain or flavoured salt. Tempura also appears on other dishes: tendon is tempura on rice with a sweet sauce, and tempura soba or udon puts it on noodles.

Allergens and diets

Assume gluten and eggs in the batter. A few shops leave out the egg, but you'd need to ask, and the oil is shared regardless.

Shared oil is the big issue. Prawns are fried in nearly every tempura kitchen, so vegetable pieces pick up crustacean protein from the oil. The same applies to fish and to squid and scallop (molluscs). If you have a shellfish allergy, treat all tempura from a mixed kitchen as exposed.

The dipping sauce is bonito dashi plus soy sauce, so it adds fish, soy and more wheat. Salt avoids that, but not the oil. Traditional Tokyo shops often fry in sesame oil, alone or blended with other oils, for its nutty flavour. Ask what oil they use if sesame is a problem.

Ready-made tempura flour mixes can contain egg powder, baking powder and starches, so "no egg" in the kitchen isn't always certain.

On the menu

Tempura is written 天ぷら or 天麩羅. Words that matter:

• 海老天 ebiten: prawn tempura
• 野菜天 yasaiten: vegetable tempura
• かき揚げ kakiage: mixed fritter
• 盛り合わせ moriawase: assorted platter
• 天丼 tendon: tempura rice bowl
• 天ざる tenzaru: cold noodles with tempura on the side
• 天つゆ tentsuyu: dipping sauce
• 天かす tenkasu: loose fried batter bits, scattered on noodles and okonomiyaki

At a counter, the chef serves pieces one at a time as they come out of the oil.

How to eat it

Eat each piece straight away while it's crisp. Stir the grated daikon into the tentsuyu, dip briefly, or just touch the piece to the salt.

Last checked 1 November 2026. Spotted something wrong? Email support@inventum.com.au.