Tempura is seafood, vegetables, mushrooms and other pieces of food coated with tempura batter and deep fried. Tempura was introduced to Japan by the Portuguese in the 16th century, but has become one of Japan's most famous dishes internationally.

Ingredients
Common ingredients in traditional tempura include:
◎ Seafood: Prawn, Shrimp, squid, scallop, anago (conger eel), ayu (sweetfish), crab, and a wide variety of fish.
◎ Vegetables: bell pepper, kabocha squash, eggplant, carrot, burdock, green beans, sweet potato, yam, potato, renkon (lotus root), shiitake mushroom, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, okra.

Nearly any food may be used so long as it does not release water into the batter before or during frying.