Editing Tempura (section)

==History==
[[File:Peixinhos da horta.jpg|thumb|''[[Peixinhos da horta]]'' ("little fishes from the garden"), the Portuguese ancestor of Japanese tempura]]
[[File:Japanese Edo Period Tempura Shop.JPG|thumb|''Tempura [[Yatai (retail)|yatai]]'' (stall) of [[Edo period]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kcf.or.jp/fukagawa/ |title=Fukagawa Edo Museum |access-date=2011-02-13 |archive-date=2013-10-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029183945/http://www.kcf.or.jp/fukagawa/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>]]
[[File:Ashino-ko don 説明用.jpg|thumb|220px|[[Black bass]] ten-[[donburi|don]] in [[Lake Ashi]], [[Japan]]]]
[[File:Tendon Tenya Kitasenju Nishiguchi Shop (2015-07-20).jpg|thumb|220px|Tenya]]

===Origins===
Earlier Japanese deep-fried food was either simply fried without breading or batter or fried with rice flour.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}  However, toward the end of the 16th century, the technique of fritter-cooking with a batter of flour and eggs was acquired in [[Nagasaki]] by Portuguese missionaries.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nagasaki Tempura ｜ Our Regional Cuisines : MAFF |url=https://www.maff.go.jp/e/policies/market/k_ryouri/search_menu/4260/index.html |access-date=2024-05-10 |website=www.maff.go.jp}}</ref> [[Peixinhos da horta]] was a dish often eaten during [[Lent]] or [[Ember days]] to fulfill the [[Fasting and abstinence in the Catholic Church|fasting and abstinence rules for Catholics]]. The word "tempura" originates from the [[Latin]] word ''tempora'', a term referring to these fasting times<ref>{{Cite web |title=The truth about Japanese tempura |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20170808-the-truth-about-japanese-tempura |access-date=2024-05-10 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en-GB}}</ref> (Spanish: ''[[:es:Témporas|Témporas]]'').<ref>{{cite news |author1=Francisco Luis Pérez |title=En Taiwán al pan se le llama pan y abundan los nombres hispánicos |url=https://www.elconfidencial.com/cultura/2009-01-29/en-taiwan-al-pan-se-le-llama-pan-y-abundan-los-nombres-hispanicos_974865/ |access-date=17 September 2021 |work=[[El Confidencial]] |agency=[[EFE]] |date=29 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917113540/https://www.elconfidencial.com/cultura/2009-01-29/en-taiwan-al-pan-se-le-llama-pan-y-abundan-los-nombres-hispanicos_974865/ |archive-date=17 September 2021 |language=es |quote= ´tempura´, fritura japonesa de mariscos y vegetales ligada a la costumbre cristiana de no tomar carne en las témporas, e introducida por misioneros ibéricos en Nagasaki"}}</ref> In those days, the ingredients were covered in thick batter containing flour, sugar and sake, and then fried in lard. As the batter already contained seasoning, it was eaten without dipping sauce.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The History of Tempura |url=https://guide.michelin.com/hk/en/article/features/tempura_en |access-date=2024-05-10 |website=MICHELIN Guide |language=en-HK}}</ref>

In the early 17th century, around the [[Tokyo Bay]] area, tempura ingredients and preparation changed as the ''[[Yatai (food cart)|yatai]]'' (food cart) culture gained popularity. Making the best use of fresh seafood while preserving its delicate taste, tempura used only flour, eggs, and water as ingredients, and the batter was not flavored.  As the batter was mixed minimally in cold water, it avoided the dough-like stickiness caused by the activation of wheat gluten, resulting in the crispy texture now characteristic of tempura. It became customary to dip tempura quickly in a sauce mixed with grated daikon just before eating it.

Today in Japan, mainstream tempura recipes originate from "Tokyo-style" (also known as “Edo-style“) tempura, invented at the food stalls along the riverside fish market in the Edo period.  Tempura became popular largely due to the abundance of seafood. In addition, as oil extraction techniques advanced, cooking oil became cheaper. Serving deep-fried food indoors was prohibited during Edo because tempura oil was a fire hazard in Japanese buildings, which were made of paper and wood. Therefore, tempura gained popularity as fast food eaten at outdoor food stalls. It was skewered and eaten with a dipping sauce.  Tempura is considered one of "the Edo Delicacies" along with [[soba]] (buckwheat noodles) and [[sushi]], which were also food stall take-outs.

The modern tempura recipe was first published in 1671 in the cookbook called "料理献立抄". After the Meiji period, tempura was no longer considered a fast-food item but developed as a high-class cuisine.

===Etymology===
{{Wiktionary}}
The word "tempura", or the technique of dipping fish and vegetables into a batter and frying them, comes from the word {{Lang|la|tempora}}, a Latin word meaning "times", "time period" used by both Spanish and Portuguese missionaries to refer to the [[Lent]]en period or [[Ember Days]] (''ad tempora quadragesima''), Fridays, and other Christian holy days. Ember Days, or ''{{Lang|la|quatuor anni tempora}}'' in Latin, refer to holy days when Catholics avoid meat and eat fish or vegetables instead.<ref>{{cite book|last=Narloch|first=Leandro|title=Guia Politicamente Incorreto da História do Mundo|year=2013|publisher=[[Editora Leya]]|location=São Paulo|isbn=9788580448405|page=163|edition=1|language=pt|chapter=Samurais}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author1=LUIS SÁNCHEZ-MOLINÍ |title="El haiku es muy parecido a la seguidilla, algo breve e impactante" |url=https://www.diariodesevilla.es/sevilla/haiku-parecido-seguidilla-breve-impactante_0_688431587.html |access-date=18 September 2021 |work=[[Diario de Sevilla]] |date=14 April 2013 |language=es |quote=Témporas are the Christian liturgical cycles corresponding to the end and beginning of the four seasons of the year, consecrated especially to prayer and penance. As is easy to guess, témporas comes from tempus (time) and its plural tempora (times). The typical food in those seasons (in which you could not eat meat) was fried fish, which in Japanese ended up being called tempura}}</ref> The idea that the word "tempura" may have been derived from the [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] noun ''{{Lang|pt|tempero}}'', meaning a condiment or seasoning of any kind, or from the verb ''{{Lang|pt|temperar}}'', meaning "to season" is also possible as the Japanese language could easily have assumed the word ''{{Lang|pt|tempero}}'' as is, without changing any vowels as the Portuguese pronunciation, in this case, is similar to the Japanese.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.trannet.co.jp/pre_up/web_news/2007/1010.html | title = Japanese Writers' House Newsletter | date = 2007-10-10 | access-date = 2008-01-11 | archive-date = 2016-03-03 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221630/http://www.trannet.co.jp/pre_up/web_news/2007/1010.html | url-status = dead }}</ref> There is still today a dish in [[Portugal]] very similar to tempura called ''[[peixinhos da horta]]'', "garden fishes", which consists of green beans dipped in a batter and fried.

The term "tempura" is thought to have gained popularity in southern Japan; it became widely used to refer to any food prepared using hot oil, including some already existing Japanese foods.{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}} Today, particularly in western Japan, the word "tempura" is also commonly used to refer to ''[[satsuma-age]]'', fried surimi fish cake which is made without batter.<ref name="Ishige 2014 p246">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H0nXAwAAQBAJ&q=Tempura+Satsuma-age&pg=PA246|page=246|title=The History and Culture of Japanese Food|first=Naomichi |last=Ishige |author-link=:ja:石毛直道 |publisher= Routledge|year= 2014 | isbn=978-1136602559}}</ref><ref name = "Satsuma-age 2017 Names">{{cite web|url=https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/13209051/|title=「さつま揚げ」の各都道府県での呼び名を調査 関西は「天ぷら」 |publisher=J-TOWN.NET |date=June 16, 2017 |access-date=March 23, 2020}}</ref>