Tempura-style batters - share your recipes? tips? advice?

[purplehorseshoe]

I've been using these packets of batter mix for ages. Quick, easy, consistent, you only need to have water on hand, and absolutely delicious.

But I'd like to be able to perfect a homemade version. Tyler Florence comes across personally sorta creepy to me but his "Ultimate" TV show usually delivers good recipes. I was thinking of using his recipe as a starting base.

What do you think of his recipe? He claims the rice flour delivers a better texture. What do y'all use?

[tim-n-va]

I can't have gluten so I've used rice flour as described. Club soda can work in place of the beer. One tip I read said to keep it cold (start with cold beer or cold club soda). When making mulitple batchs of something I put the batter in the fridge between uses.

It might just be the brand i bought but rice flour is a little more gritty than wheat flour.

[purplehorseshoe]

Any flavor difference between beer and soda? Put another way, does the beer add much appreciable flavor?

[slowlearner]

3 scoops rice flour (white or brown depending on your mood), 1 scoop cornstarch, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, whisk in a cold liquid like beer or sparkling water and one ice cube to keep it cold. i like a thin batter but vary it til you find a favorite. not gritty, stronger flavors of beer do show up in the taste. and i fry in 2 inches of oil in a quart saucepan, no more than 3 shrimp or a few veg pieces at a time. if your food dives to the bottom of the grease it's not hot, there should be real excitement as you drop each piece in the grease. great secret dipping sauce, mayonnaise with Yucateca habanero sauce blended in.