What Is Tempura Soup?

Japanese tempura is usually ordered as a side dish at a restaurant or prepared as a snack at home since it requires few ingredients and little time to cook. If you enjoy this delicacy, you might have seen other kinds of dishes, especially soups, which include tempura, so one might ask - "What is tempura soup?".

Tempura soup is a combination of two dishes - udon and tempura (in many restaurant menus, the recipe will be called "tempura udon soup"). It bears many similarities to ramen since it has noodles, broth, and toppings. However, all three main ingredients differ greatly in taste, texture, and cooking process from the ramen ones, which makes tempura soup a unique Japanese recipe.

Tempura Soup Is a Japanese Recipe That Combines Different Traditional Dishes and Ingredients

Although present nowadays in almost every Japanese restaurant, tempura soup is a mix of a few different traditional Japanese dishes. Since it has a similar appearance to ramen, one might think that it is a new variation of this famous Japanese dish. However, the ingredients and broth differ completely from ramen, and here are the main differences:

• Udon noodles used in this recipe are different from ramen noodles in size and texture. They are much thicker and chewier than ramen noodles and have been used in traditional Japanese dishes like "kake udon," "oyako udon," and "nabeyaki udon."
• If you have enjoyed traditional ramen before, then you probably know that the broth is made by boiling pork and chicken bones until they completely dissolve. However, the broth from the tempura soup recipe is different as it requires completely different ingredients and less cooking time. One could say that the consistency is much closer to the traditional Western soup.
• Finally, the main ingredient is tempura shrimp (mostly used in recipes like shrimp tempura roll). Although nowadays there are many innovative ramen recipes, and there is most certainly one with tempura shrimp, it is not a traditional ramen topping.

This Recipe Is Easy to Make and It Requires Little Time

At first, seeing that this recipe combines different dishes, you might have thought that the cooking process is probably complicated. However, that is not the case. All three parts of the dish are easily prepared, and here is how to do it.

Tempura Soup Is Definitely Worth Trying

Japanese cuisine has become one of the most popular in the world, and nowadays every town has at least one sushi bar. However, recipes like tempura soup are definitely worth trying as well, as they can introduce you to a completely different spectrum of flavors. On top of that, Japanese dishes are generally considered to be healthier than the majority of Western fast-food recipes. Hence you should consider substituting your burger with a tempura soup from time to time.