After years of following failed recipe's searching for that lovely light fluffy tempura, I began experimenting on my own using the foundations of the recipes that came closest to what I was looking for. And... it paid off. This is my perfect tempura batter recipe. ~~~Lynne

This recipe will coat 6 medium to large shrimp and 3-6 sea whole sea scallops (depends on the size of the shrimp) and 4 1" wide onion rings.

Serving Size: 1 person

Ingredients
1/2 tsp Baking POWDER
1 tbsp cornstarch
3-1/2 tbsp flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp garlic powder (optional)
ground pepper to taste
carbonated soda water

Directions

In a medium size bowl, mix the baking powder, cornstarch, flour, salt, pepper and optionally the garlic powder until well blended.

Pour in SLOWLY the soda water, stirring constantly until you have a texture that resembles a ranch dressing. If you make it too thin, add cornstarch a little at a time to achieve the proper texture. Batter should be able to stick to veggies / seafood with minimal dripping.

Heat at least 1" of vegetable oil in a deep pan to 350 degrees. (Depending on how much batter you made and how many pieces you will be frying, add enough oil to accommodate. For example, if you doubled the shrimp, scallops and onion rings in this example, you would also double the oil).

Use a tong to dip the veggies / seafood into the batter than immediately into the hot oil.

Do not overcrowd the oil to the point that it looses the heat.

As soon as the batter has browned and if using seafood it is opaque, move the batter fried pieces to a drying or cookie rack (I put paper towels under the rack to make clean up easier). Veggies should be crisp tender.