January 7

How I Celebrated

Learn from my mistake and try to drop tofu in one at a time. My first batch was terrible both because of that but also because the oil was not hot enough, and I did not let it brown. It basically was oily mochi covered tofu (because I used part rice flour). This was also my first time using seltzer water in the batter. I am not sure how much it helped, but it was delicious either way. Also, frying is probably the way I most like my kale. Well, maybe I just like fried anything. I also made my own sweet and sour sauce for dipping. Yummy! Happy Tempura Day!

Diet Helpers 

• Sugar Free

  Most tempura batter is made without sugar.

• Gluten Free

  I could be remembering this wrong, but I think the first time I ever saw someone make tempura in the cafeteria at college, they only used corn starch and no flour. Here is another recipe that uses both corn starch and rice flour.

• Vegetarian

  Tempura coated vegetables are delicious! Fry away!

Recipes

• Alton Brown at Food Network
• Food.com
• Go Japanese
Follow Molly's board January 7 Recipes on Pinterest.

History

 I learned on punchbowl that even though tempura is a Japanese dish, it has Latin/ European roots. It comes from the phrase "quattuor tempora" meaning "ember days". These were days in which Catholics eat fish and veggies instead of meat.

Merchandise

AWW so kawaii!!! ^___^
Follow Molly's board January 7 Merch on Pinterest.

Restaurants

• I suppose if I ever go to Japan I will probably find some of the best tempura in the world. Here are a few highlighted in Tokyo.
• Here are my google search results for best tempura restaurant, with nearby restaurant called tempura house. The price shows it is inexpensive so maybe I will have to try it sometime.

Other Things to Celebrate Today

• Oatmeal Month
• California Dried Plum Digestive Health Month (Prune Breakfast Month)
• Hot Tea Month
• National Soup Month
• Bread Baking Month
• Candy Month
• Egg Month
• Meat Month
• Wheat Bread Month
• Fat Free Living Month
• Be Kind to Food Servers Month
• Harlem Globetrotter's Day
• I'm Not Going to Take It Anymore Day
• International Programmers' Day
• National Old Rock Day
• National Pass Gas Day