Stuffed Tempura Courgette Flowers with Chilli Sauce
It’s peak season for courgettes right now, so I’ve been thinking of recipes to make with them. I have come across traditional Italian recipes using courgette flowers, but I thought I could also prepare them the Asian way, like stuffed and deep fried tempura courgette flowers paired with my classic chilli soy sauce dip. In Asia, fried foods are never far from our palate; most Malaysians would be familiar with fried foods like banana fritters (pisang goreng) and deep fried dumplings (wontons) because we grew up eating them. I love perfectly-airy, crispy and non-greasy tempura. I think the best ones I’ve eaten are from a Japanese-owned yakitori bar in my neighbourhood. Their deep-fried vegetable skewers are naturally sweet, light and crisp, dipped into piquant dashi sauce. What is your favourite way to eat tempura? Also, in tempura making, freshness is everything. You can make it with a wide variety of ingredients like seafood, mushrooms and seasonal root vegetables with low water content so they hold the batter well when deep fried. Namiko from Just One Cookbook has some great tips here!
I filled the squash (courgette) blossoms with feta cheese, minced garlic and mint leaves mixed with some olive oil for flavour. Then I coat them lightly in cake flour so the tempura batter will adhere to it. Just before deep frying, I make the batter with all purpose flour, ice water and eggs in an ice-cold bowl, then whisk it with chopsticks for 15-20 seconds so there was still some floury lumps left, sort of like heavy cream. I find that when you don’t overmix the batter, less gluten forms so the tempura will have a light, lacy layer. I took abit of time stuffing the flowers, so I returned the mixing bowl with the batter into the fridge to stop the gluten process. It’s always better to keep it cold so when you deep fry later, the batter clings nicely to the courgette blossoms.
When they were ready, I heat up my Dutch oven with 3-5 cm of sesame oil. I waited until the temperature reached 160 C, lightly dipped the blossoms into my tempura batter, then it goes into the oil. The aroma of fried tempura was really wonderful while it was sizzling in the pot of oil. I cracked some salt and pepper on it. I didn’t have any dashi soup stock or mirin in my kitchen so we are going to have it with our favourite dipping sauce made with chopped chillies, chives, minced garlic and soy sauce.
Tempura Stuffed Courgette Flowers with Chilli Soy Sauce Dip
Ingredients
- 325 g olive oil
- 100 g feta cheese crumbled to tiny pieces
- 12 pieces courgette (zucchini) flowers washed, stems removed
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- A handful mint leaves finely chopped
- salt and black pepper to taste
For The Tempura Batter
- 120 g cake flour sifted
- 120 g all purpose flour sifted
- 3-5 cm sesame oil in an empty wok or deep frying pan
- 1 large mixing bowl keep refrigerated (I normally use metal bowls to keep chilled)
- 1 large egg
- 227 g ice cold water (keep it refrigerated when not in use)
- ice cubes for chilling the water
For The Tempura Sauce
- 3 tbsp light soy sauce
- 3 pieces bird's eye chillies finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 stalks chives finely chopped
Instructions
- Gather the ingredients. Crack the egg into a clean bowl (which has been kept refrigerated) and gently beat with a fork until the yolk and egg whites are barely incorporated.
- Combine the water and ice cubes in a cup. Give it a quick swirl with a spoon. Strain the water (you should have one cup or 227g of ice cold water), leaving out the ice cubes. Now add just the ice water to the bowl with the beaten egg.
- Sift the all purpose flour and add it to the bowl with the egg and water mixture. Combine it gently with a pair of chopsticks. Take care not to overmix the batter so there are still some floury lumps left. Return the bowl of tempura batter to the fridge and keep refrigerated until ready to deep fry your courgette flowers.
- Prepare the stuffing. Combine the feta, garlic, olive oil and mint leaves in a bowl. Gently open the courgette flowers and fill each blossom with a teaspoon of the stuffing. Give the petals a gentle twist to seal it so they don't open during the cooking process.
- Fill a wok with 3-5cm of sesame oil and turn on the heat. A second before the oil temperature reaches 180C on a cooking thermometer, coat your courgette flowers in cake flour so the batter will adhere to it, then lightly dip it into the tempura batter. Note that too much batter results in crispy exterior and mushy interior. Next, immediately place the flowers into the pot of oil to cook.
- Deep fry the flowers until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes. Occasionally turn the flowers so all sides are browned. Fry them in batches, taking care not to overcrowd the pot as the oil temperature will drop quickly. While frying, keep your eye on the thermometer and ensure the temperature stays between 160C (320F) and 182C (360F). Any higher than 182C will make the tempura flowers too crispy; any lower than 160C and the tempura will absorb too much oil and won't get crispy.
- While you're frying between batches, scoop up the excess crumbs in the oil which will burn and turn the oil darker if left in the pot for too long.
- Once done, place the tempura on a plate lined with kitchen towel or parchment paper to absorb the excess oil. Crack some pepper on it and season with salt.
- Prepare the tempura dipping sauce. If you'd like to make a tempura dipping sauce with dashi soup stock and mirin, Namiko from Just One Cookbook has a nice recipe for it (I have linked to her website here below!). Enjoy your tempura on the spot while it's hot and crispy!
If you made this dish, let me know by tagging @saveurmalaisie on Instagram.
