# Nagasaki Tempura ｜ Our Regional Cuisines

**Cuisine Name**: Nagasaki Tempura

**Region**: Our Regional Cuisines

## Main Lore Areas
All of Nagasaki Prefecture

## Main Ingredients Used
Fish and vegetables

## History, Origin, and Related Events
“Nagasaki Tempura” is a traditional dish, which dates to around 400 years ago, from the time of the Nanban trade period. This dish is inspired from fritters made by Portuguese people at the time. In Japan, tempura is usually eaten with a dipping sauce but in this region, the batter is flavored with sugar and other seasonings and does not require a sauce. However, some believe that this dish is the origin of traditional Japanese tempura.Because,Others say that the name “Tempura” came from the Portuguese word “Tempero”, meaning to cook or that it refers to the period “Temporas”, when Christians refrain from eating meat and eat fish as an alternative. It is said that “Kirishitans” (=Catholic Christians) living in Nagasaki developed this dish when they were not eating meat as “Nagasaki Tempura” can be made with fish and vegetables.

## Opportunities and Times of Eating Habits
In the past, this dish was considered fine cuisine and only wealthy families could enjoy it. Nowadays, this dish is made at home and is enjoyed by many.

## How to Eat
This dish is similar to fritters and fish and vegetables are covered in a batter consisting of wheat flour, sugar and sake and then deep-fried. The batter is thick and flavored so there is no need to use “tentsuyu” (=tempura dip) as a dipping sauce. This dish is good even after it cools.

## Efforts for Preservation and Succession
(Outline of traditions, preservation societies, social media use, modern approaches for commercialization etc.)“Nagasaki Tempura” is served as a traditional dish in local school lunch menus using fish caught in the region. This recipe is popular among children and so this menu is also served outside of Nagasaki prefecture.

## Ingredients
- Shrimp: 4
- Chicken tenderloin: 4
- Sweet potatoes, lotus roots, green beans, and other vegetables: To taste
- [A] Wheat flour: 1 cup
- [A] Katakuriko (=potato starch): 1 tbsp.
- [A] Sugar: 2 tbsp.
- [A] Salt: A little
- [A] Light soy sauce: 1 tsp.
- [A] Egg mixture: 3 tbsp.
- [A] Sake: 3 tbsp.
- [A] Water: 3 tbsp.
- Cooking oil: As needed

## Recipe
1. 1. Devein the shrimp and remove the muscles from the chicken meat. Sprinkle some salt onto the chicken. Cut the sweet potato and lotus root into round slices and trim the ends of the green beans.
2. 2. Put the ingredients in list [A] into a bowl and mix well until the texture becomes sticky.
3. 3. Put a height of 2 to 3cm of oil in a frying pan. Cover each ingredient in the batter from step 2 and deep-fry at a temperature of 170℃.

## Provider Information
Recipes vary depending on the region and home.

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