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Tempura Salmon Fish and Chips with Baked Japanese Sweet Potato Fries

Shanna
A twist on classic fish and chips with lightly tempura fried salmon, Japanese sweet potatoes with kewpie mayo and furikake seasoning and a sweet and tangy dipping sauce in place of the traditional malt vinegar.
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Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Additional Time 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 4 -6 servings

Ingredients
  

For the Salmon Tempura

  • 4 Salmon filets even thickness, about 2 lbs.
  • 1/1/2 C Tempura Batter Mix OR Tempura Batter from scratch see notes
  • 1 ¼ C COLD light Japanese Beer Kirin, Asahi or Sapporo work best

For the Honey Ginger Soy Dipping Sauce

  • ½ C Shoyu
  • ¼ C Rice Wine Vinegar
  • 2 tablespoon Minced Ginger
  • 2 tablespoon Honey
  • 1 large clove Garlic peeled and minced
  • 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
  • 1 tablespoon Black Sesame Seeds
  • ⅓ C Green Onion dark green part, sliced thin

For the Fries

  • 4-6 large Japanese Sweet Potatoes
  • Salt to taste
  • 2-3 TbspArrowroot or Potato Starch
  • 2-3 tablespoon Coconut Oil or olive oil
  • ½ C Nori Sheets cut into thin 1 inch strips
  • Kewpie Mayo
  • Sesame Seeds
  • Shoyu

Instructions
 

Make the Honey Ginger Soy Dipping Sauce First:

  • Combine everything except the green onion in a medium bowl, whisking well to combine. Set aside.
  • Preheat oven to 400 Deg F ( 375 if using convection)
  • Set a stockpot or dutch oven on a stove and fill with high heat oil such as peanut or organic/Non-GMO canola oil and heat to 370-375 Deg F. Use a candy or high heat thermometer to measure the heat of the oil so it maintains the same heat throughout cooking. It will take a while to come to frying temperature so you can prep the rest of the ingredients in the mean time.

Prep  and bake the Sweet Potatoes:

  • Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into long thin strips
  • Place in a bowl and season with salt and pepper, then sprinkle with a few teaspoons of the starch. Shake off excess. Drizzle olive or coconut oil on a sheet pan then place the fries on the pan in a row, being careful to keep a little space between each. You may need to do this on several sheet pans to accommodate all the fries if making 6 sweet potatoes worth of fries. Drizzle with a little more oil and season again with salt. Bake for 20-25 minutes, flipping each piece over halfway through. You can err on the side of slightly undercooked and leave in the oven with the heat turned to 200 Deg F if the fries are going to be done before the salmon is finished frying. This keeps them warm and crisp until ready to serve. Keep an eye on them so they don’t burn.
  • While the potatoes are baking fry the salmon. Cut each filet into 4-6 strips about 2 ½-3” long. Season with salt then lightly dredge in plain flour, shake of excess.

Make the Tempura Batter and Fry the Salmon:

  • Pour the tempura batter mix ( or tempura batter from scratch - see notes) into a bowl and add in the cold beer. Mixing until beer is well incorporated but bater is still lumpy. Working with one piece at a time, dip the salmon into the tempura batter coating it well then slowly lower into the hot oil. Repeat with 2-3 more pieces of salmon. Fry for 2-4  minutes, until the batter has puffed and turned golden,  then remove with a slotted spoon, preferably stainless steel or heat proof metal, and place salmon on a paper towel lined plate. Repeat with remaining salmon. Serve as soon as the last piece is done frying
  • When ready to serve pour some of the dipping sauce into a small bowl or ramekin. Place 3-4 pieces of tempura salmon on a plate and a small handful of the fries. Pour a few drops of soy sauce or shoyu over the fries, drizzle some of the mayo and top with the nori strips and a few black sesame seeds.  Top the dipping sauce with some of the sliced green onion as well as the salmon. Serve with more cold Japanese beer such as Kirin or Asahi.

Notes

If making tempura batter from scratch combine the 1 ¼ C flour, ¼ C corn starch, ½ teaspoon baking soda and ¼ teaspoon salt. If you prefer not to use beer, replace it with ice cold soda water or carbonated water. Very important that either the beer or carbonated water is super cold. You can make the batter then keep chilled either in the freezer or refrigerator for 30 min before frying. Or keep in a bowl set in an ice bath ( another bowl filled with ice water) to keep it super cold.
Japanese Sweet potatoes have a darker almost purple skin and a pale white flesh. They are a bit starchier than traditional red/orange sweet potatoes so they stay crispier when made as baked fries. The arrowroot or potato starch helps keep that crispness to the fries while baking.
The tempura salmon keeps for a day and can be reheated easily. Refrigerate in an airtight container. Then when ready to eat again bake in a 375 Deg oven on a sheet pan for about 5 minutes until hot and crispy, being careful not to overcook to dry out the salmon.