Mondo Knows Facts
Tempura arrived with Portuguese traders
The frying method was introduced to Japan in the sixteenth century Portuguese missionaries and merchants in Nagasaki brought a style of batter frying that Japanese cooks developed into tempura. The name probably comes from the Latin word for a period of fasting, since the battered vegetables suited meatless days. Tempura batter is mixed briefly with cold water so the gluten stays underdeveloped and the coating stays crisp and light. It sits in Mondo's food collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.
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Tags: tempura, japan, frying
Tempura arrived with Portuguese traders: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- The frying method was introduced to Japan in the sixteenth century. The figure is taken from British Library, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a food fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Food shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.