This might be because deep-fried food became very popular during those exciting times when different elements of European culture entered Japan. Edo lay close to seas which teemed with sea eels and fish like kisu , haze and megochi . These fish are small and have white flesh, making them ideal tempura ingredients. Tokyo still has many restaurants specializing in tempura . There you can sit at a counter and eat tasty morsels right out of the frying pan.
Japanese cuisine uses a lot of seafood.
It also goes well with buckwheat noodles. These two dishes, called tendon and tempura-soba respectively, are often seen on lunch menus in Japan. Make sure the ingredients are really fresh. The seafood should be so fresh that it could be served as raw sashimi . To keep it from getting thick or sticky, mix the water and flour together with just a few slicing strokes, using long chopsticks or some similar implement.