Tempura Seiju is run by Yoshiake Shimizu who trained under the venerable late master at Raku-Tei where I had the pleasure of eating truly exquisite tempura back in June 2013. To be honest when I ate at Raku-Tei I found the batter to be underwhelming: mild and not as crunchy as I would expect it to be. After a while of sampling other tempura places and trying my own hand at making (aka correcting some misconceptions :)) some I began to understand the beauty of Rakutei-style tempura.
Tempura may seem like an easy method: deep-frying ingredients in a heavily seasoned batter to create a ‘street food’ which is deliciously oily. At a higher level the philosophy changes: by using the batter as a ‘shield’ against the hot oil the ingredient can be cooked to its optimal level in a short time. The importance of heat and thus temperature control cannot be emphasized enough: too low a temperature and you spend longer frying the ingredient, leading to a very greasy item. Too high a temperature and too short a cooking time might not allow the heat to penetrate the ingredient enough. The choice of ingredients is important too, other than provenance and quality, a good tempura cook must also know which items are best suited to tempura and which items require more care.
Proper execution creates purity of flavour where you can taste each individual ingredient at its ‘individual peak’. Of course this is easier said than done: the problem with an authentic batter is that it highlights the ingredient within which must be of exceptional quality.
I found Seiju’s tempura to be of very similar taste as compared to Raku-Tei although it is more ‘hearty’ in the sense that it seems more seasoned although mildness is retained. A light sesame oil was used to fry the ingredients and which is changed as needed throughout the meal.
I enjoyed every single piece and thought that they were all highlights in their own right which I feel hits the mark on the philosophy of Edomae Tempura: to bring to life each ingredient without altering its “base” form. I was dining here with a fellow Tokyo foodie and the only thing he felt they could improve was the temperature of the tentsuyu. I considered this his way of saying ‘perfect execution’ for the tempura.
In short, Tempura Seiju gave me a flawless performance. Thank you Shimizu-san.
Date of Visit: Feb 2015
Tempura Seiju
B1F, Urban Mates Bldg, 3-16-9 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
03-3546-2622
Michelin: http://gm.gnavi.co.jp/shop/0120152460/
Tabelog: http://tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1313/A131301/13058904/
finding resonance 