Tempura

Tempura arrived with Portuguese Jesuit missionaries in Nagasaki around 1543 — peixinhos da horta, vegetables battered and fried during Quatuor Tempora ember days when meat was forbidden. The name's origin is debated: candidates include Portuguese temperar (to season; to fry hard in oil) and the Latin Quatuor Tempora (the Ember/fast days when meat was forbidden). Edo-period cooks reworked it for the new capital's street stalls in the 17th century, lightening the batter and using local seafood; the refined kappo-style tempura course came in the 19th century.

Portuguese-Jesuit Lent fritter (peixinhos da horta) brought to Nagasaki in the 1500s — "tempura" from Latin "tempora" (Ember Days, days of fasting). Cold soda water and minimum mixing keeps the batter brittle.

Pieces of shrimp, white fish, and vegetables — kabocha, lotus root, shiso, eggplant, shiitake — coated in a thin lacy batter, fried in sesame-blended oil until pale gold, almost translucent. Served immediately with grated daikon and tentsuyu dipping sauce, or just salt. The crust is dry, brittle, with visible fissures; if it's smooth and uniform, the batter was over-mixed.

Cold batter, hot oil, fast in-out — and never stir the batter smooth. The flour-water mix is whisked just until streaks of dry flour remain; gluten development is the enemy because it makes the crust chewy instead of brittle. Some shops use ice water or even sparkling water to keep temperature low. Oil is held at 170-180°C and seafood goes in for as little as 90 seconds.