Tempura is a crispy and light batter typically made with panko bread crumbs. The most popular tempuras are seafood, meat, or vegetables. However, being tempura, there’s technically no food that can’t be tempurized.
There are many theories about the origin of tempura. These suggest that it was a legacy of the Portuguese who arrived in Japan, and that the Japanese transformed and adopted it over time.
One version states that the Portuguese used tempura for Holy Week celebrations in Christian traditions, as during these times red meats are avoided. They prepared peixinhos da horta, a dish of green beans coated in egg and flour and fried in oil, which the Japanese gradually adapted into the tempura we know today.
Another theory suggests that the batter originated from the batter of cod fritters prepared by the Portuguese. Regardless of its origins, tempura is now a part of Japanese culinary identity and can be found in nearly all Japanese restaurants.
It’s important to note that although tempura is a fried food, it ranks among the lowest in calories. Without counting the ingredient being tempurized, a serving of tempura contains only about 100 calories, which is quite low considering that 100 grams of french fries contain about 312 calories.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70942671
