Corn Tempura (Tomorokoshi-Age)...

I love foreign food films, especially Japanese ones that has food interwoven effortlessly with everyday life... but with food scenes leaving a huge impact! This was the case when I watched Still Walking by director Hirokazu Kore-eda showing lots of scenes in the kitchen with the Yokoyama family preparing various meals. The most memorable food that caused my eyes to grow wide and my appetite to go wild was of crispy corn tempuras; these were casually eaten by hand as a snack by the young Yokoyama children as they romped and played or sat around for conversations. Could you imagine how happy I was when I found an insert in the DVD called cooking with Kore-eda- a series of the screenplay's recipes? And of course, there was the corn tempura, based on the director's mom's recipe. No need to mess around with it as it cooks up beautifully, but I've added my own tips to make it that much more fail-proof. Happy frying!

Corn Tempura (Tomorokashi-Age)

Makes about 15 pieces

Oil for frying

3 ears of corn, kernels removed

1/2 cup flour, plus 1 Tbsp. for tossing/dredging

1/2 tsp. baking powder

Salt and pepper to taste

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup ice cold water (this is important for crispy results)

toasted sesame oil

Place an ear of corn onto a chopping board and slice down along the kernels to give a clean cut. Do this for all sides to remove all kernels and for all cobs.

I like to hover the cob just over a good-size bowl and carefully slice down into all the sides. 

In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. In a larger bowl, combine the egg yolk and water. Add the flour mixture to the yolk mixture and combine to form a batter. Toss the corn kernels in the extra 1 Tbsp. flour first and stir them into the batter. TIP: Chilling both the flour mixture and water before using, helps make the tempura batter extra crispy!

Remove the corn from the batter with a slotted spoon to form small patties, adding a touch of sesame oil on top with a spoon before frying. When oil is ready, carefully slip the corn mixture into the oil one at a time. Deep-fry in batches until they are golden brown (do not over crowd), then drain on paper towel-lined plate. TIP: Oil is ready when a few drops of batter sink halfway to the bottom, and float back up quickly- oil is about 340 F.

TIP: Use plenty of oil, with enough room to toss and flip the ingredients around. Overcrowding will cause overlapping preventing heat from distributing evenly, thus resulting in greasy and mushy outcomes. Remember to thoroughly remove the fried batter bits between batches to keep the clarity of the oil and not have burnt bits on the food.

If the batter is cold, it will sizzle right when it hits the hot oil.

Positively crispy, addictive with burst of sweet corn in every bite!

But little did you know that behind the meal scenes we were actually having Mexican for dinner- Lol! Honestly, it was a perfect complementary side to tacos- so sweet and flavourful on its own it did not require to be dipped in tempura sauce to mix the tastes up! YUM!

Can't muster the idea of attempting it at home, give it a try in Toronto's first authentic traditional udon restaurant MeNami in North York. Photo credits to Yelp.ca.