Explaining how to freeze tempura with photos! [Storage period, thawing, carefully selected recipes]

Is it possible to make too much tempura?

And I want to eat it! When this happens, you may feel that cooking fried foods is a hassle. In such a case, you can use tempura conveniently by freezing it.

There may be some of you who have never frozen tempura, but the method is very simple, so feel free to give it a try and use tempura easily and conveniently.

Advantages of freezing tempura

Can be stored while preventing oil oxidation

As soon as tempura gets covered in oil, it loses its flavor. Rotating oil means that it oxidizes. At room temperature, it will oxidize in a few hours and lose its deliciousness.

Oxidation slows down when the temperature is cooled, so you can delay oxidation by storing it in the refrigerator, but if you still want it to taste delicious, you will need to wait more than 10 hours.

Freezing tempura prevents oxidation and allows you to enjoy deliciously preserved tempura for a long time.

It's convenient because you can arrange it in a delicious way and eat it.

Although the texture of frozen tempura will be a little off, you can still eat it as is if you defrost it properly.

In addition, it can be used conveniently in a variety of ways, such as tempura udon, tempura udon, tempura udon, stir-fried dishes, and chili sauce.

Freezing method

1) Remove the heat from the tempura.

2) Place the tempura in a resealable freezer container, such as a Ziploc bag, and seal it, making sure to remove as much air as possible.

To prevent oxidation, we recommend placing the tempura between two sheets of cooking paper to absorb excess oil. Be careful not to use kitchen paper as it will stick and tear.

3) Arrange items 2) on a metal (aluminum, etc.) tray and place in the freezer.

[Points to avoid losing flavor when frozen]
・To prevent deterioration such as oxidation due to exposure to the air in the freezer, store in an airtight container. If you transfer it to a ziplock bag, remove as much air as possible before sealing it.

- Metal trays (especially aluminum) have good thermal conductivity, so the heat from the tempura can be quickly dissipated to the outside. Therefore, it can be frozen more quickly, making it less likely that it will lose its flavor.

How to unzip

1) The day before you want to eat it, move it to the refrigerator and thaw it.
If you don't have time or want to eat it right away, you can let it thaw naturally by letting it come to room temperature, or you can use the defrost function in the microwave. Thawing food as slowly as possible will preserve its flavor.
Before thawing, make sure to remove any frost (frozen white ice) on the tempura itself. When you defrost it, it will end up becoming too sticky.
2) Crunch up the aluminum foil once and then place it on top of it and bake it in a toaster oven.

You can remove excess oil by crinkling the aluminum foil.

Even if you bake it in a toaster oven, you cannot recreate the crispy texture of freshly fried food. If you want it crispy, we recommend re-frying it. (especially carrots, etc.)

If you want to further process the tempura before serving it (such as in a tempura bowl), thawing it in a toaster oven will be sufficient.

* Precautions when unzipping
If you heat egg tempura or squid tempura in the microwave, they may explode, so be sure to use a method other than the microwave to defrost them.

Storage period

In the case of tempura, if the oil gets mixed up over time, it loses its flavor. Therefore, we will introduce two types of storage periods: ``The storage period when you can eat tempura as is'' before it is heated with oil, and ``The storage period when it is recommended to cook and eat it'' such as Tentojidon.

If you want to eat tempura as it is after defrosting it, please refer to the "Storage period for tempura that can be eaten as is."

・If stored at room temperature, the storage period for tempura to be eaten as is is approximately 2 to 3 hours.
Recommended storage period for cooking and eating is approximately 4 to 6 hours.

・If stored in the refrigerator, the shelf life of tempura that can be eaten as is is half a day.
Recommended storage period for cooking and eating: Half a day to 3 days

・If frozen, the storage period for tempura that can be eaten as is is approximately 2 weeks.
Recommended storage period for cooking and eating: 2 weeks to 1 month

Tempura remake recipe

Easy: Sweet and spicy egg binding made with Satsuma potato tempura

Source: https://cookpad.com/recipe/2127972

If you add a soft-boiled egg to give it a sweet and spicy flavor, it will quickly turn into a side dish that goes well with rice. It's convenient because you can use ingredients other than sweet potatoes.

☑材料
さつまいのてんぷら　200ｇ
〇醤油　大さじ２
〇砂糖　大さじ２
〇酒　大さじ１
〇みりん 大さじ１
〇水150ｃｃ
卵　１個

<How to make>
1) Mix 〇 ingredients and bring to a boil in a frying pan.
2) Add the samurai tempura to 1) and simmer until the flavor is absorbed.
3) Add the beaten eggs until a little bit of the broth remains, cover, and steam.
4) When the eggs are half-cooked, turn off the heat and finish.

Remake with leftover tempura and put cheese on it

Source: https://cookpad.com/recipe/2016888

Just sprinkle with cheese and bake! It's very easy to arrange tempura into a Western-style menu. Any kind of tempura topping goes well with it, so it's probably an easy challenge.

☑材料 （1人分）
好きな天ぷら　４個ほど
塩コショウ　少々
マヨネーズ　おこのみで
チーズ　１枚

<How to make>
1) Arrange your favorite tempura on the cooking paper. Then heat it in the toaster oven for 5 minutes.
2) Sprinkle salt and pepper on 1), spread mayonnaise on top and top with cheese.
3) Heat 2) again in the toaster for 3 minutes. Once the cheese has melted, it's done.

Freely arrange! cold ochazuke

Source: https://cookpad.com/recipe/2676649

It's not just udon and soba! Tempura goes well with simple ochazuke! If you use frozen tempura, you can immediately arrange it as an ingredient.

☑材料 （１人分）
ごはん　茶碗１杯
麺つゆ(ストレート)　大さじ４〜５
水カップ　1/2
トッピング　ごま・きざみのり、 漬け物、しらす、残り物の天ぷら

<How to make>
1) Arrange the rice in a bowl. If you want cold rice, heat it up in the microwave.
2) Combine straight mentsuyu and water and pour over the rice from 1). When adding pickles, we recommend lightly seasoning them.
3) Finish by adding toppings as you like. If the tempura is also cold, warm it up in the toaster before serving.

Chicken tempura and eggplant vinegared chicken

Source: https://cookpad.com/recipe/4056335

Sweet and sour chicken is a popular dish that is healthy and goes well with rice, but it can be a bit of a pain to make because it requires deep-frying. In such a case, it is convenient to freeze the chicken tempura so that you can cook it right away.

☑材料 （2人分）
とり天ぷら　適量　200ｇ程度
ナス2本
∇しょうゆ　大さじ1/2
∇ケチャップ　大さじ2
∇酢　大さじ1
∇砂糖　大さじ2
∇ウェイパー 小さじ1
∇片栗粉 小さじ1
油 大さじ1〜2

<How to make>
1) Heat oil in a frying pan and fry the eggplant.
2) Once the eggplant is cooked and tender, cut the chicken tempura into bite-sized pieces and add them to the frying pan.
3) Mix ∇ into 2) and mix with the ingredients. Gently toss the tempura pieces to prevent them from falling apart.
4) Once the sauce from 3) is coated, serve in a bowl and serve.

Super easy! Squid tempura chili sauce

Source: https://cookpad.com/recipe/3316780

If you freeze squid tempura, you can immediately arrange it into chili sauce. The shrimp tempura can also be made into shrimp chili, so be sure to check it out.

☑材料 （1人前）
イカの天ぷら1本
ごま油 大さじ1
◆長ネギ(みじん切り)　1/3本
◆にんにく(みじん切り) 　1片
◆しょうが(みじん切り)　 1片
☆トマトケチャップ　大さじ1.5
☆醤油　大さじ1.5
☆酒　大さじ1.5
☆みりん 大さじ1
☆片栗粉 小さじ2
☆タバスコか豆板醤　小さじ1
☆水100cc

<How to make>
1) Cut the squid tempura into bite-sized pieces. Combine the ☆ ingredients.
2) Heat sesame oil in a frying pan, stir-fry the ◆ until fragrant, then add the squid tempura from 1) and the ☆ from 1) and stir-fry.
3) Once the squid tempura has warmed up and the sauce has thickened, serve it in a bowl and serve.

Conclusion

What did you think? To freeze tempura deliciously, all you had to do was wrap it between parchment paper and place it in a storage bag (remove as much air as possible). With this simple method of freezing, you won't have to worry about making tempura, which is often the case.

As mentioned earlier, it may be more convenient to fry a large amount and freeze it, as it can be easily adapted to other dishes.

Try using frozen tempura for tempura udon, tempura bowl, and other dishes.