Kasahara-Style Spring Tempura Platter (with Tenmusu-Inspired Mixed Rice to Finish)

Trim off about 1 cm from the root end of the rapeseed blossoms, as it is tough. Remove the large leaves so they fry more easily (use the removed leaves in another dish) and tidy up the shape.

Pat the bamboo shoots dry, trim off any tough parts at the base, then cut into wedges.

Remove the thick strings from both sides of the snap peas, starting at the stem end.

Cut the new onion in half and remove the core, then separate it into groups of a few layers before cutting to keep the shape neat.

Roughly chop the spring cabbage (a bit larger than coarsely minced) for the kakiage, put it in a separate bowl, and mix in the sakura shrimp.

Cut the sea bream and spear squid into bite-sized pieces. Cut the squid into rings.

Make the batter. Mix the chilled egg yolk and ice-cold water together well, then add the chilled cake flour. Overmixing develops gluten and makes the batter heavy, so tap rather than stir, and stop while it still looks a little floury.

Lightly dust all the ingredients with cake flour as an undercoat. This especially keeps the batter from sliding off the seafood. Dust the cabbage and sakura shrimp all over as well.

Make the tempura dipping sauce. Add soy sauce and mirin to bonito and kombu dashi, bring to a boil once, then turn off the heat and let it cool. Add sugar if you prefer it sweeter.

Fry the vegetables and seafood in turn in 170°C oil. Adding too much at once drops the temperature, so fry in small batches. Do not touch them right after they go in; turn them after a little while. New onion has a lot of moisture, so it will crackle and pop. Squid turns tough if overfried, so take it out once the outside firms up.

Fry the cabbage and sakura shrimp kakiage last. Put the batter in the bowl and bring the mixture to a consistency that holds together (add cake flour if it is too loose), then slide it in along the edge of the pot and fry.

Arrange on a plate and serve with the tempura dipping sauce with grated daikon added. Finely chop any leftover tempura, mix it into white rice, season with salt only, and scatter shredded nori on top if you like for a mixed rice finish (you can also pour dashi over it for tencha).