Ten is from tenpura and kasu means “rubbish”. Yes, now you can imagine what the phrase means. Tenkasu is a by-product from preparing tempura. It’s the leftover fried batter, which we normally discard. However in Japan, there are many recipes using tenkasu. If you have a nice Japanese tempura restaurant nearby, I’m sure they can give you some or sell it to you cheaply. Tenkasu tastes wonderful added to hot noodle dishes. You can also make your own tenkasu. When making tempura, sprinkle extra batter into the hot oil to form 0.5–1-cm (¼–½-in) round discs. Fry for about 1 minute until the tenkasu becomes golden brown and crisp. Remove and drain on kitchen towels. Tenkasu can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Ingredients
- 10 tbsp Tenkasu
- 4 tbsp Toasted white sesame seeds
- 0.4 oz (12 g) Bonito flakes
- 4 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (shoyu) + more to taste
- 17 oz (480 g) Cooked Japanese short grain rice
- 4 Nori seaweed sheets
How to Make It
- Combine tenkasu, sesame seeds, bonito fl akes and soy sauce in a bowl and mix well. Add rice and mix gently until well combined. Add more soy sauce to taste, if desired.
- Place cling wrap in a rice bowl and scoop one-quarter of the rice into the bowl. Pull out rice together with cling wrap and mould rice into your preferred shape. Remove cling wrap and wrap with nori as desired. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
