Serves: 2
Prep time: 15 minutes

Taking a leaf out of the swanky Asian restaurants’ cook books, this dish shows wasabi at its best by using it in two sauces. One is a creamy wasabi mayonnaise and the other is a soy, wasabi and ginger dipping sauce. Plunge the crisp prawns into each of the sauces and feel your tongue sing!

85g plain flour
1 tablespoon corn flour
½ teaspoon sea salt
200ml ice cold sparkling water
enough vegetable oil for deep-frying
10 king prawns

for the wasabi soy dipping sauce
1 teaspoon wasabi paste
1 cm ginger, peeled and finely grated
½ teaspoon golden caster sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

for the wasabi mayonnaise
1 teaspoon wasabi paste
4 tablespoons best-quality mayonnaise

To make the wasabi soy dipping sauce, whisk together all of the ingredients and then pour into a dipping bowl.

To make the wasabi mayonnaise mix together the wasabi and mayonnaise, then pour into a separate bowl.

Mix together the flour, corn flour, salt and sparkling water in a bowl. Do not over-mix it. It is better that it is a bit lumpy than over-mixed and totally smooth. You also need to ensure that the water is ice cold. Add some ice cubes into it if you’re worried it’s not cold enough.
 
Fill a deep fat fryer, very deep sauce pan or wok one-third of the way up with oil. Test the temperature by adding a small piece of bread. It’s hot enough when the bread browns in 30 seconds.

One by one, plunge the prawns into the tempura batter, then drop them into the hot oil. Fry for one minute or until crisp and golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper before serving immediately with the two sauces.