Master Tempura and Aioli

Tempura and Aioli recipes from Ming Tsai.  Here is a link to the episode highlighting these recipes Episode 411: Master Techniques: Tempura & Aioli

Makes about 8 cups tempura batter and 4 cups aioli

Ingredients

Basic Tempura:
1 quart club soda, cold
6 cups rice flour and some extra if needed

 Chile Tempura:

1/4 cup kochu karu (Korean chile flake)

Spiced Tempura:

1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground pink peppercorn

Basil Tempura:

1 cup basil leaves, blanched in salted water and shocked in ice water, excess water squeezed out, pureed smooth
1/2 cup spinach leaves packed, blanched in salted water and shocked in ice water, excess water squeezed out, pureed smooth
Extra rice flour, if necessary

Basic Aioli:

2 tablespoons minced garlic
6 egg yolks, pasteurized
2 1/2 cups grapeseed oil
Juice of 3 lemons
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Lemongrass Aioli:

1 tablespoon minced lemongrass, white part only
Juice and zest of one lemon

Sambal Aioli:

1 tablespoon sambal
2 tablespoons chopped chives

Vinegar Aioli:

1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup naturally brewed rice vinegar
1/2 cup Chinese black vinegar 

Directions

Tempura:

In a large bowl, whisk club soda into rice flour until a pancake batter consistency is achieved. Divide batter among three bowls and fold chile flake into one, all the spices into the second one and basil and spinach purees in the third (may need to add a touch more flour to keep thickened). 

To cook tempura, the oil should be ~350F.   Dip a piece of food into the batter and slowly add it to the oil, be careful not to splash.  Cook a few minutes and turn to complete.  Batter should be light, golden when done.  Try not to add too many pieces to the oil since this will drop the temperature too much.

While cooking making sure to remove any small pieces of batter that remain in the oil after you remove a cooked piece of food.   This small batter pieces will be come overcooked and add a bitter, burnt flavor to the oil. 

Aioli:

In a food processor, combine garlic and yolks and blend until smooth and yolks are pale and creamy. With food processor running, very slowly drizzle in oil. You want an emulsification to form, so go slowly; once about 1/4 of the oil had been added, you can pour the rest in a steady stream. Add lemon juice and blend briefly. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

To make flavored aioli, divide aioli among three bowls and fold in flavorings. For Vinegar Aioli: In a medium saucepan, reduce vinegars until syrup consistency is achieved.  Fold 1/4 cup syrup into 1 cup aioli.