Gluten Free Tempura and Crab and Corn Egg Drop Soup

Gluten Free Tempura

Today I was at the grocery and saw lobster and crab on sale. If you are from the Atlantic provinces in Canada you'll know that the first lobster feed of the season is Mother's Day. I've been dreaming of lobster and I had to jump on the sale just for a little taste. They were frozen so thawing meant having to use it all at once. I decided to make tempura with the lobster and some of the bigger crab pieces and then to use the rest of the crab for an egg drop soup.

I am not eating gluten at the moment so I create a gluten free tempura. This was my first time doing this but it was sooooooo crispy! I would have added a bit more salt to the batter but other than that I was very happy with it. This is a ton of batter so you can half the ingredients if you are just cooking a few things.

Gluten Free Tempura

1 cup of GF flour ( I use Bob's Red Mill All Purpose GF flour in Canada)

1/2 cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon of sea salt

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

1- 2 cups of sparkling/carbonated water

About 2 inches of oil in a pot for frying ( I use coconut oil because it's doesn't cause me inflammation - you can use canola if you are okay with that type of oil)

For this batch I used thinly sliced sweet potatoes, full asparagus, large onion portions, cooked lobster and cooked shrimp

Mix the dry ingredients and then add the water, 1 cup at first and then keep adding until the texture of crepe batter which is thinner than pancake batter.

Heat the oil. You can use a thermometer and keep it at 375 F. I don't have one so I manage the temp by starting on high and then lowering to a med high.

I cook one ingredient at a time. So I would dip a piece of yam in the batter coating it well and then drop it into the oil. Do this slowly so the tempura can create a skin before you add the next one. Yams will take longer to cook than the cooked lobster. You want things to be cooked through but not overcooked so you just have to test to see how long each ingredient will take.

Make sure to lay out the cooked tempura pieces on napkins to soak up as much oil as you can. I loved this batch because it was sooooooo crispy. Even cold!

I ended up eating a lot just on their own and dunking in a tempura sauce. But I also used them in my sushi rolls and they were seriously yum!

Crab, Corn and Egg Drop Soup

Crab, Corn and Egg Drop Soup

I had all the shells from the seafood so I decided to make a broth. I boiled the shells with some some onion and some soup base - which is the same stuff that is used for the tempura dip. Now I'll warn you, this was a bit fishy smelling . I'm from PEI so seafood smell doesn't bother me. If you aren't a fan of that you can just use vegetable or chicken stock. I would add fresh ginger next time.

Once the broth tastes deep enough for your liking you add cornstarch to thicken it up. The best way to do this is to take a few tablespoons of starch and mix with water then slowly add to the boiling water until it is the consistency of a thin gravy. It's meant to be silky.

From here you can add what you like. I put in corn and spring onions. You could add greens too if you like. I love Chinese broccoli or bok choy chopped into bit size pieces.

This is where the the egg drop part happens!

Just crack a few eggs in a bowl and whisk them up. Then scoop up some egg with a fork and drizzle little lines of egg into the hot broth. You'll see them firm up into strings.

You have to have patience or you'll get clumps of eggs (which is also fine). I have a kitchen tool that's a scooper with holes in it that also works great for this and it's a lot faster.

Once all the eggs are in the soup is ready to serve.

Take your crab and place on top of your serving.

Add chilli oil, sesame oil, more spring onion, soy sauce, etc.

And enjoy!