I don’t know, a hint of tempura and I’m already binding my feet and looking for the nearest tea ceremony. I did go to a Tea Ceremony in Kyoto many years ago, and I’d love to say it was an uplifting experience, but actually I ended up with a very numb backside from sitting for three hours whilst waiting for the amazingly beautiful tea hostess to get the inspiration for our ceremony. Basically, you all sit there, admittedly in stunning surroundings, quietly contemplating (yes, for 3 hours!) until she suddently shrieks the word that enters her head, in this case it was “spring”. Maybe I’m just not enough in tune with the world of meditation, but I have to admit, that when they then poured my my cup of what looked like and tasted like mouldy grass cuttings, I was extremely glad it was all over. Oh well.
Anyway, a quickie for the weekend, make tempura. It’s fun and it’s very easy, but it is better if you have got a deep fat fryer…go out and buy one…you’ll be triple frying chips and Mars bars in no time at all. So for a prawn tempura, you will need some lovely big, raw prawns, de-veined but with the 
tails left on. 2 egg whites, 25g cornflour and 50ml of soda water. You can fry these in a saucepan filled with oil, but make sure the temperature is at least 180 degrees. I used chilli jelly as a dipping sauce.
Method: In a bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff.Then in a separate bowl mix together the cornflour and soda water. Fold in the egg whites gently, so as not to beat out all the air. Dip the prawns into the mix, making sure they are thoroughly coated, the lumpier it looks, the better. Deep-fry the prawns 
for one to two minutes until golden, drain quickly on kitchen paper and serve immediately. I am experimenting at the moment with adding turmeric to the mixture and serving with a more curry-like dipping sauce, and even more excitingly with substituting champagne for soda water. watch this space, I’ll let you know the outcome!
The Bombay Boys 