The Crispiest, Crunchiest, Veggie-est Appetizer of All!
Watch an entire plate of these tempura green beans with a generous side of curry mayo disappear, and you’ll be glad you bothered to break out your deep-frying skills. This quintessential Japanese deep fried dish may not count as a healthy addition to your diet, but it will most likely be your favorite thing you eat all summer.
The BEST Tempura Green Beans
The idea for this dish came to us after an afternoon of green bean picking at our favorite local “farms”—aka Natalie’s mom’s garden! When green bean tempura came up as an option for how to use up our precious bounty, a curry aioli was quickly suggested as a pairing and wow, did we ever pick a winning combination! Served at backyard gatherings all summer long, we just knew this easy tempura veggie had to make it here to share with you. Follow along to see just how easy it is to make tempura-fried green beans at home.
How To Make Tempura Batter
Tempura batter is all about airyness and a light crisp-crunch. This tempura batter comes together fast and only requires three ingredients that you might already have on hand. In fact, this simple tempura batter recipe is so simple, we challenge you to get into your kitchen asap to tempura ALL THE THINGS! Here’s what you will need to make our bubbly, crispy tempura batter:
- Cold club soda
- Flour
- Salt
How To Tempura-Fry Vegetables
Now that you know how few ingredients you need, let’s get to making your tempura green beans. The only other thing you need is a nice, large pot filled with hot oil. Here’s what you need to know about making tempura vegetables at home:
- You’ll know the oil is hot enough when a dollop of dropped batter sizzles upon contact with the oil, but you should also make sure that you’re getting a reading of 375°F on a deep-frying thermometer.
- Once your oil is up to temperature, carefully drop batter-dipped green beans and watch them as they puff up into pale golden glory.
- Don’t feel like you have to limit yourself to using this tempura batter on just green beans! Have fun with it.
We’ve had a lot of luck using this tempura batter on:
- Sweet potato spears
- Zucchini spears
- Mushrooms
- Squash blossoms
- Asparagus
- Shrimp
Non-Traditional & Delicious! Curry Mayo Dipping Sauce
The curry mayo in this recipe is not to be skipped. Yes, the art of good tempura is something that you’ll be praising yourself for for a while, but don’t kid yourself that you can skimp on the sauce. A good sauce is at least half of what makes this homemade tempura recipe so good. We tested a couple of different dips in the process of perfecting this recipe, and while sriracha mayo is good on EVERYTHING, this curry mayo was the obvious winner. The spicy heat of red curry paste whisked with lime juice and mayo has made its way on to our condiment staple list very quickly.
Tools You’ll Need:
More Easy Summer Appetizers
Jalapeño Poppers
Sweet and Smoky Bean Corn Dip
Tomato and Avocado Bruschetta
Braised Tomatoes with Burrata
How Many Vegetables Have You Tempura-ed?
When you have mastered the art of frying veggies in this light airy batter we want to see the beautiful plate of goodness. Be sure to snap a photo and tag us on instagram using @themodernproper or #themodernproper.
