serves
1
prep
30 minutes
cook
5 minutes
difficulty
Mid
serves
1
people
preparation
30
minutes
cooking
5
minutes
difficulty
Mid
level
Ingredients
- vegetable oil, for deep-frying
- tempura flour, for dusting
- micro coriander leaves, to garnish
Crab filling
- 50 g cooked spanner crabmeat (see Note)
- 14 g Persian feta
- 14 g Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise
- 1.5 g red hot pepper paste (aji roccoto paste) (see Note)
- 2 baby capsicums
Batter
- 90 g tempura flour, plus extra for dusting
- 30 g potato starch (katakuriko)
- 5 ml rice vinegar (shiragiku)
- 250–300 ml ice-cold sparkling water
Yuzu soy
- 10 ml salted yuzu juice (see Note)
- 20 ml soy sauce (see Note)
Salmon tartare
- 50 g salmon-sashimi grade
Makes: 4
Chilling time: 30 minutes
Instructions
For the crab filling, squeeze out the liquid from the crabmeat, if any, and set aside in a bowl.
In another bowl, combine the feta, mayonnaise and roccoto into a paste. Add the crab refrigerate until required.
Slice the tops of the capsicums, halve lengthways and remove the seeds. Trim the top and sides of each capsicum half so its 5 cm long by 3 cm wide (you want it to look like a boat or canoe for the filling).
Coat the capsicum in tempura flour, shaking off the excess (this will help with the filling bind). Spoon the crab filling into each capsicum boat and shape the filling to fit. Refrigerate until required.
For the yuzu soy sauce, mix the ingredients together and set aside.
For the salmon tartare, finely mince the salmon and transfer to a ziplock bag and refrigerate (to prevent oxidation and to let it set).
For the tempura batter, mix the tempura flour and potato starch in a bowl. Add the vinegar and water, gradually, and mix in with your hands – it’s okay if there are still some lumps, but don’t overwork batter or it will become too doughy. The consistency should be just enough to coat the capsicum in a thin batter without being runny. Refrigerate until required.
To serve, heat the oil in a deep-sided saucepan to 175ºC.
Lightly coat the stuffed capsicum with tempura flour, then dip into the batter.
Gently drop the capsicum into the oil and, if they are sticking to each other, separate with chopsticks.
Thin out the remaining batter with a little water. Dip your fingertips into the thinned-out batter (or use a spoon) and flick the batter over the capsicum while cooking to add another layer of crunch.
Once golden brown and crisp, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel on a wire rack. Season with salt.
Snip the tip off the piping bag with the salmon, making sure it’s big enough but not too big so you can pipe the salmon on top of the capsicum.
Garnish with a coriander leaf and serve with the sauce.
Chef's notes
• Aji roccoto is a Peruvian chilli paste - I like to use Goya brand, available from gourmet stores and Spanish grocers.
• Tempura flour, potato starch, rice vinegar, yuzu juice and my preferred soy sauce Yamasa brand are available from Japanese grocers.
Chase Kojima is the head chef of and . This recipe is from - a brand new series airing weeknights at 6pm on SBS. Can the passion of a home cook beat the skills of a professional chef? Missed all the action? Catch-up online and get all the recipes .
This recipe has been edited by SBS Food and may differ slightly from the series.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
