Kids, don't try this at home!

IMG_0810
Originally uploaded by me-spirit.

Tenkin, is one of the rare finds, that without a local, you wouldn't know it was there. It's yet another sliver of a restaurant, down a narrow side street. Adachi-san told us it would be special, not only because the food was oiishi, but also for the unique skill that the tempura chef wields: his hands are his utensils to add battered food to the pan of hot oil! Over the course of our lunch, the tempura chef would crack an egg and very gingerly add it to the oil so it wouldn't break. I counted about 2-3 seconds of his hand submerged in oil. The chef's father also cooks tempura this way; the chef insists that anyone can learn how to cook tempura in his family's tradition!

We enjoyed a lunch of miso with tender clams, tempura shrimp and fish and pickeled vegetables. The best tempura was fish rolled in nori, then perfectly seasoned with a dash of sea salt.