Itadakimasu! It’s National Tempura Day!

Tempura is a deep fried dish that the Japanese have made for centuries. When did it originate? Let us find out through the history of National Tempura Day!

Tempura is made up of either seafood or vegetables that are battered, deep fried, and enjoyed by millions of people across the nation. Portuguese Jesuit missionaries introduced the recipe for tempura to Japan during the sixteenth century (around 1549). It is believed that Portuguese Jesuit Tokugawa Isyasu, founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, loved tempura. Since the Genroku era (September 1688 – March 1704) tempura was originally a very popular food that was eaten at street vendors called yatai.

Today, chefs all over the world include tempura dishes on their menus using a wide variety of different batters and ingredients including the non-traditional broccoli, zucchini, and asparagus as well as dry fruits. Some meats, usually chicken and cheeses, are known to be served tempura-style in some American restaurants. For sushi lovers, a more recent variation of tempura sushi has the entire piece of sushi dipped in batter and tempura-fried. The word “tempura” comes from the word “tempora”, a Latin word meaning “times”, “time period” used by both Spanish and Portuguese missionaries to refer to the Lenten period or Ember Days.

The idea that the word “tempura” may have been derived from the Portuguese noun tempero, meaning a condiment or seasoning of any kind, or from the verb temperar, meaning “to season” has not been substantiated. The term “tempura” is thought to have gained popularity in southern Japan; it became widely used to refer to any sort of food prepared using hot oil, including some already existing Japanese foods. Today, the word “tempura” is also commonly used to refer to satsuma age, a fried fish cake which is made without batter. In Bangladesh, the blossoms of pumpkins or marrows are often deep fried with a gram of rice flour spice mix, creating a Bengali style tempura known as kumro ful bhaja.

How do you celebrate National Tempura Day? Why make and/or eat some! If you’re a social media foodie, be sure to get a pic and post wth #NationalTempuraDay.

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Photo Credit:  Dima Moroz / Shutterstock.com