This light batter holds together a variety of vegetables and then cooks to a crispy pancake. Use whatever veggies you have in your refrigerator, onion, fennel and mushrooms are also good options, just make sure you shave them thinly so that they cook quickly. You can use this batter for fruit too.

Vegetable Tempura Pancakes

Category

Category name

Serves

Makes 4 (6-inch) Pancakes

Ingredients

For the Batter

  • ¾ cup flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • Fine sea salt
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 cup sparkling water, cold

For the Vegetables

  • ½ small carrot shaved into thin strips using a vegetable peeler
  • ½ zucchini shaved into thin strips, using a vegetable peeler, discard the seeds
  • ½ cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
  • 1 cup spinach leaves
  • ¼ cup corn
  • 3 broccoli florets, thinly sliced
  • ¼ to ½ cup neutral oil such as safflower, peanut, or canola, for frying
  • Salt

Method

  1. To make the batter, in a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and a dash of salt. Add the egg yolk and enough sparkling water to make a thick paste without any lumps. Continue whisking and pour in the remaining water, mixing well, the batter should be the consistency of heavy cream. Add the carrots, zucchini, parsley, spinach, corn, and broccoli and mix well making sure that all the vegetables are coated with the batter.
  2. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a 6 or 7-inch nonstick skillet over high heat. You can use two skillets if you have them. Scoop one quarter of the mixture into each skillet, pressing gently on the vegetables to make an even layer. Cook until the vegetables are tender and the batter is crispy, 2 to 3 minutes on each side. You may need to lower the temperature to medium when you flip the pancakes to ensure that the vegetables are tender without getting too dark. Using a large spatula remove them to a wire rack and sprinkle with salt. Serve immediately.