Tempura (天麩羅 ,tenpura, also written as “天ぷら”) is a classic Japanese dish of deep fried battered vegetables or seafood.

Tempura was introduced to Japan in the mid-sixteenth century by early Portuguese missionaries and traders. The word tempura, or the technique of dipping fish and vegetables into a batter and frying them, comes from the word “tempora,” a Latin word meaning “times”, “time period” used by both Spanish and Portuguese missionaries to refer to the Lenten period or Ember Days (ad tempora quadragesimae), Fridays, and other Christian holy days. Ember Days or quattuor tempora refer to holy days when Catholics avoid meat and instead eat fish or vegetables. Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, loved tempura so much that he apparently died after eating too much of it according to lore. The idea that the word “tempura” may have been derived from the Portuguese noun tempero, meaning a spicy condiment or peppery seasoning, or from the verb temperar, meaning “to season” has not been substantiated. There is still today a dish in Portugal very similar to tempura called peixinhos da horta, “garden fishies.” However, the Japanese language could easily have assumed the word “tempero” as is, without changing any vowels as both languages are phonetically similar.

It is thought that as the term “tempura” gained popularity in southern Japan, it became widely used to refer to any sort of food prepared using hot oil, including some already existing Japanese foods. Today, the word “tempura” is also commonly used to refer to satsuma age, a fried fish cake which is made without batter.

In Japan, restaurants specializing in tempura are called tenpura-ya and range from inexpensive fast food chains to very expensive five-star restaurants. Many restaurants offer tempura as part of a set meal or an obento (lunch box), and it is also a popular ingredient in take-out or convenience store obento boxes.

Outside of Japan, tempura (particularly shrimp) is often used as a filling in makizushi. A more recent variation of tempura sushi has entire pieces of sushi being dipped in batter and tempura-fried. The ingredients and styles of cooking and serving tempura vary greatly through the country, with importance being placed on using fresh, seasonal ingredients.

Outside Japan (as well as recently in Japan), restaurants sometimes use broccoli, zucchini and asparagus. There are many non-traditional and fusion uses of tempura. Chefs over the world include tempura dishes on their menus, and a wide variety of different batters and ingredients are used. Variations include using panko or corn flour, however, the consistency is crisper using panko as opposed to tempura batter, and frying unusual ingredients such as nori slices, non-watery fruit such as banana, and ice cream.

In northern Taiwan, tempura is also known as 天婦羅 or 甜不辣 (tianbula) and can be found at night markets such as Shilin Night Market and Keelung Temple Night Market, where it is famous. The ingredients and method used for making Taiwanese tempura are completely different from Japanese tempura, and they share only the name. In southern Taiwan, however, it is known as 黒輪 or 和田 and is more the counterpart to oden. Oden is generally known as 關東煮 or “Kwantung cooking” in reference to the Kwantung (Kantō) region of Japan.