"tempura" news and stories

Happy National Tempura Day! Attesting to the veritable melting pot that is American cuisine, today is officially appointed as a day to celebrate these Japanese specialties.

Introduced in Japan in the mid-1500s, these deep-fried, batter-dipped morsels of vegetables or fish have pleased hungry eaters for centuries for their ability to transform inexpensive food into much more flavorful finished products.

Legend has it that Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of Japan's Tokugawa shogunate, was so enamored with tempura that he died from his gluttony upon the dish. What's your favorite tempura dish? Share your recommendations in the comments!

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Say "Japanese food" and right away, most people will think of sushi, perhaps immediately followed by tempura, teriyaki, and ramen. Increasingly, people are also becoming familiar with kushiyaki, the assortment of grilled, skewered foods that are traditionally served as "bar-snacks." However, there's another Japanese cuisine, shabu shabu.

The words "shabu shabu" roughly translates to "swish swish," as that is the way food is cooked: diners briefly swish paper-thin slices of raw meat and chopped fresh vegetables in a pot of boiling water to cook them. It's similar to fondue in that diners are "dipping" foods in a liquid in front of them, and similar also to Korean barbecue, where diners are essentially grilling the meat themselves at the table. Sometimes each individual diner has their own pot of boiling water, and other times, an entire table of diners share a community pot in the center of the table.

Once the meat or vegetable is cooked, it is dipped in a light, thin ponzu sauce, or a thick, sweet sesame sauce. An entire meal usually includes a plate of vegetables, tofu, noodles, and some sort of meat: thinly-sliced ribeye, chicken, or seafood like lobster, crab or other shellfish. 

There are quite a few Japanese shabu shabu places:

Central:

• Shabu Shabu House, 127 Japanese Village Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90012, (213) 680-3890
• Kushi Shabu, 123 Onizuka St Ste 305, Los Angeles, CA 90012, (213) 621-0210

Westside:

• Mizu 212, 2000 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025, (310)478-8979
• Shabu Hachi, 11680 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064, (310) 479-7537

East

• Lee's Shabu, 18438 Colima Rd Ste 318, Rowland Heights, CA
• Dai Kei Sushi and Shabu, 708 E Las Tunas Dr, San Gabriel, CA 91776, (626) 285-5701

South and OC

• Shabu Shabu Gyushintei, 24631 Crenshaw Blvd, Torrance, CA, 90505, (310) 326-2438
• Koji's Shabu Shabu, @ the Block@Orange, Orange, CA 92868 (714) 769-0200
• California Shabu Shabu, 18908 Brookhurst St, Fountain Valley, CA 92708, (714) 963-8844