Deep-fried Celery filled with cream cheese & garlic in Tempura Batter

Serves 4Preparation: 15 minsCook: 15 mins

Celery tempura

Ingredients

1 celery heart, washed and cut into 4 cm pieces
200g cream cheese
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
Small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
Vegetable oil for frying
4 portions of baby leaf salad
For the tempura batter
150g plain flour
200ml sparkling water
For the vinaigrette dressing
3-6 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp french mustard
1 tbsp Vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Step by step

  1. Blanch the celery pieces in boiling water for about 3-4 min. Drain and dry well with kitchen towel.
  2. Mix together the cream cheese, garlic and parsley.   Either place in a piping bag and pipe into groove of the celery, or fill the celery using a broad knife.
  3. To make the tempura batter, whisk the water and flour together into a light batter, about the consistency of double cream.
  4. Fill a saucepan with vegetable oil to 4cm deep and heat to about 170C/340F.
  5. Using tongs pick up the celery a piece at a time. Dip into the batter, shake off the surplus and gently lower into the hot fat. Cook on a gentle heat so they don’t colour too quickly, and cook right through (about 6-8 minutes); they should be a pale yellow colour. When they are done, remove from the pan and place on kitchen towel to drain off excess oil.
  6. Whisk the vinaigrette ingredients together. Serve the celery tempura with the salad and dressing.

Tip:

To check the oil has reached the right temperature, drop in a little of the batter. If it sinks and then rises back to the surface, the oil is ready.

Alternatives:

Use a good quality herb & garlic cream cheese instead of the cheese, garlic and parsley.