Tempura Ice Cream: A Culinary Delight Examined

If you are probably craving for something crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside then the Japanese fried ice cream might just be what you are looking for. It is not only extremely sweet but also has all the perks and features of a super delicious ice cream. In ice cream essay will be considered what is a tempura ice cream.

So, I have had the tempura fried ice cream a couple of times but I wasn’t so crazy about it as I am now. As a matter of fact, the first time I really enjoyed it was when I had to prepare it for my wife and we had it together and instantly fell in love with this delicious ice cream.

First and foremost, me and my family are huge fans of ice cream in general, not a week goes by that we don’t have ice cream. But when my wife was heavily pregnant with our second child baby T, she was so obsessed with ice cream that I had to put a ban on it. A few weeks into the ice cream ban season I could notice how unhappy and grumpy my wife had become. So, I had to suspend the ban but I also wanted to do it in style and what better way to this than making the one and only tempura fried ice cream. And off to Walmart I went to get ice cream after which I made one hell of a tempura fried ice cream. men! you need to have seen the joy and happiness on her face when I served it her, she even cried but then I fed her and had some myself. Anyways back to tempura ice cream, it is definitely something you should try especially if you are a huge fan of ice cream.

What is Tempura Ice Cream?

For the purpose of better understanding I would like for us to take a brief look at what the word tempura means before explaining what tempura ice means. Tempura is a Japanese dish that basically comprises of fish or any other form of seafood and vegetables that has been battered and deep fried. The dish actually came about by waste cooking methods presented by Portuguese living in Nagasaki in the sixteenth century. It is however said that the name 'tempura' originates from the Latin expression quatuor anni tempora, which alludes to the Ember Days, during which no meat is eaten. 

Tempura Ice Cream – How It All Began?

There are clashing tales as to the origin of this super tasty tempura dessert. There have been claims that the ice cream was first served during the well known 1893 Chicago worlds flair, which also happens to be the birthplace of the ice cream sundae.

However, in 1894 an unknown Philadelphian organization was given acknowledgment for its creation as at then it was described as a little, strong cake of the dessert wrapped in a meager sheet of pie covering, plunged into bubbling fat or margarine to cook the outside to a crisp. A third case, sprung up during the 1960s claiming that the ice cream was created by Japanese tempura restaurants.

Fried ice cream has for long been related with Asian food in the united states, showing up in surveys of Japanese and Chinese cafés in some section of the New York times around the year 1970. It likewise became related with Mexican food, in huge part because of mainstream store Chi-Chi's embracing a fried ice cream made with tortillas and cinnamon as its 'signature dessert' when it opened in the mid-1980s.

The difference between the Asian recipe and the Mexicans was that, the Asian recipes uses tempura batter hence the name tempura ice cream while Mexican recipe made use of stuff like corn flakes, nuts, cookie crumbs etc. for coating. Popular flavors in the Asian cafés were green tea, vanilla and red bean. The association with Asian cooking is also reflected in Australia where they are referred to as Australian Chinese cuisine.

How is Tempura Ice Cream Made?

I could remember how confused I was the first time I heard the word fried ice cream, how on earth can you possibly fry ice cream I thought? But having tried it myself I now perfectly understand what it is and how it is made.

Anyways tempura ice cream or fried ice cream is made by simply deep-frying balls of ice cream coated by thin bread. The tempura ice cream is actually something you can make at home as it is not difficult to make. It is also found in many Japanese restaurants. Vanilla is a flavor that is very common with this ice cream although it can be substituted with any other flavor. It is very important for the ice cream to be extremely cold at all times so it is strong enough to maintain its shape after it has been dipped in batter and fried. To achieve this, ensure scooped ball of ice cream are always returned to the freezer for usually a couple of hours or probably overnight. In some cases, though you can choose to place the ice cream in between two slices of cake such that they form a sandwich like shape, after which they are wrapped in a saran wrap and immediately returned to the freezer for a few hours to become rock solid.

As for the tempura batter, flour, eggs and water are the principal ingredients for making it although other ingredients like baking soda maybe added to the flour and vanilla extract for a sort of additional flavoring. To make the tempura, beat the eggs lightly and then mix with water after which the flour is added. When the batter is made and the ice cream is firm enough, evenly coat the balls in the batter and fry in either hot vegetable oil or olive oil (I prefer vegetable oil). Ensure that the oil is extremely hot so each ball of ice cream fries quickly. Fry for at least thirty seconds before removing the balls from the hot oil to simply prevent the ice cream from melting. Fried ice cream at the end of the preparation exercise usually turns out golden crispy on the outside and soft creamy on the inside. Although the now prepared ice cream should allowed to drain on a paper towel for at least a minute or two so as to remove excess oil, it is advised that tempura ice cream be served immediately after battering and deep frying, this not only helps the dessert to maintain its contrast of its warm outer shell vs its cold insides but also prevents the inside from melting.

Conclusion

Tempura ice cream therefore is a type of fried ice cream that uses Japanese tempura technique or Asian style batter called tempura. It is a dessert produced from coating scoop of regular fried ice cream with bread and then rapidly deep-frying to create a sort of warm, crunchy shell on the outside that surrounds the cold ice cream on the inside.