What is Crab Meat Tempura?
Crab meat tempura is a lightly fried seafood dish made from fresh or canned crab. The crab is coated in a thin batter of flour and deep fried until light golden and crispy. The tempura batter is light, almost airy and the dish has a flavor that is both umami and salty.
Ingredients
Crab meat is obtained from the shelled crustacean, called a crab. The meat usually comes from the claws and legs of the crab. The meat has a stringy and lumped texture that is white and fairly juicy. It tends towards the tender side and has a sweet ocean-like flavor.
All purpose flour comes from wheat and though wheat is cultivated all around the world today, it was first cultivated in Turkey 10,000 years ago. All purpose flour is white in color and has a soft texture. This incredibly versatile flour is used in everything from breads, cakes, pastries, crackers, pasta, sauces and much more because of its pleasing and mild flavor that is slightly nutty and buttery. The gluten protein is what helps hold together breads and other products, part of what makes all purpose wheat flour so popular.
Vegetable oil is obtained by extracting oil from seeds. Types of vegetable oil include canola, sunflower, corn, and safflower. Light and with a neutral taste, vegetable oils are used to fry foods, or can be used to lightly coat meats and vegetables before roasting. Vegetable oils are also used as ingredients in salad dressings and sauces.
Canola oil is a popular and readily available oil in America, due to its inexpensive price and neutral flavor. Canola oil comes from the rapeseed plant, the oil is pressed from the seeds and has a yellow color. It is a thin oil that is best for medium high heat, such as sautéing, though is commonly used for deep frying. Canola can be found in baked good, salad dressings, and a vast variety of food products.
Lemon juice is made from the flesh of the pulpy yellow lemon fruit. The juice is squeezed from the flesh of the lemon and is a pale yellow color. The flavor is very sour and bright. Lemon juice is used in multiple cuisines around the world to brighten and enhance the flavors of the other ingredients. Lemon juice is used to make lemonade and goes well on fish. It has many uses.
Egg yolks are the small round and bright golden colored center of the egg. Some yolks may be a paler yellow, while others are almost orange, this has to to do with the diet of the hen who laid the egg. The egg yolk is surrounded by the egg white and holds its shape until punctured. The yolk is viscous and runny with a shiny quality. Once cooked the sheen disappears. Egg yolks taste somewhat sulfurous and mild.
Chives are an herb in the onion family and are comprised of skinny green and hollow stalks, about one foot tall. They grow in clusters and have a slight crunch, yet are tender. Their flavor is like a very delicate onion and somewhat green. Chives are at their most flavorful when used fresh, though can be used dried. When dried the are often chopped into thin rings and used to garnish a dish and add flavor.
There are many varieties of chili sauce, varying in color from green to shades of orange and red. Textures range from thin and watery to a thick paste. Chili sauce can be sweet, some are simply savory, while others are mildly spicy or searingly hot. There are many flavors in chili sauce, a number of these include tomato, garlic, sesame and smoky notes.
Rice vinegar is sometimes confused with rice wine vinegar and while both are made from fermented rice, each is different. Rice vinegar is made by fermenting the sugars in rice and then turning it into an acid. Rice vinegar is more delicate than other vinegars, such as white or red. The flavor of this pale yellow liquid is tangy, sweet and mild. It is used as a seasonings in some East Asian cuisines.
Salt is a mineral composed mostly of sodium chloride. It is the main flavoring used in food and is naturally occurring in certain foods, such as cheese, beets, meat and celery, plus many others. Salt is white and has finer granules than sugar. Many commercial salts include iodide, while others exclude it. Most salts are white, while some are naturally pale pink with minerals. Salt brings out the flavor of something and can create a tangy mouthfeel, if used in excess.
