Taiwanese Fish Tempura – Tian Bu La

April 10, 2021Mrs. Lin's Kitchen

Today, I want to share with you a recipe for the Taiwanese-style fish cake, also known as Taiwanese fish tempura or tian bu la in Mandarin Chinese.

Taiwanese fish tempura is another Taiwanese street food that is very popular in many night markets.

Although it has the same name as the Japanese tempura, they’re nothing alike. The Taiwanese fish tempura is made with thick fish paste, shaped into an elongated form and then deep-fried in oil until golden brown

After frying, you can serve Taiwanese fish tempura right away with dipping sauce and pickled cucumber as a side. It’ll make a delicious afternoon snake for your family to enjoy. In Taiwan, we also cook Tian Bu La in broth such as oden style.

Ingredients

tian bu la

Tian Bu La Main Ingredients

  • 1/2 lb of white fish
  • 4 tablespoon of corn starch
  • 1 egg white
  • 1 teaspoon of sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 1 tablespoon of grated ginger
  • 1 green onion
  • 1/4 cup of iced cold water
tian bu la

For this Tian Bu La recipe, you want to use white fish. Here, I bought 2 frozen tilapia fillets from Costco and they are slightly more than 1/2 lb. You can also get rock cod or sea bass if tilapia isn’t available. Just make sure the fish you use is half-thawed.

If you don’t have corn starch, potato starch will work as well.

Dipping Sauce

  • 1 teaspoon of sugar
  • 3 tablespoon of ketchup
  • 1 teaspoon of rice vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon of miso

Taiwanese Fish Tempura – Tian Bu La

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Tian Bu La - Taiwanese Fish Tempura

Ingredients

Main Ingredients

  • 1/2 lb white fish
  • 4 tbsp corn starch
  • 1 egg white
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 green onion
  • 1 tbsp grated ginger
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup iced cold water

Dipping Sauce

  • 3 tbsp ketchup
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tsp miso

Method

Prepare Ingredients

  • 1)

    Thinly slice the green onion

  • 2)

    Grate some ginger

  • 3)

    Cut the half-thawed fish into smaller chunks so it’s easier to blend in the food blender

Make Fish Paste

  • 1)

    In the food blender, add ¼ cup of iced cold water, sliced green onion and 1 tbsp of grated ginger. Blend these ingredients together first.

  • 2)

    Next, add the fish, 1 tsp of sugar, 1/2 tsp of salt, 1 egg white and 4 tbsp of corn starch. Pulse the blender a few times first to break down the fish. Then you can blend until all the ingredients are well combined and the mixture becomes pasty.

  • 3)

    Test if your fish paste is ready by dropping a tiny piece into a bowl of water. If the fish paste floats to the top, it means the paste is ready.

  • 4)

    Transfer all of the fish paste into a plastic bag (Ziploc bag). Push the fish paste towards the bottom of the bag. The idea here is to make a piping bag for your fish paste. Snip off a small triangle at one corner of the bag.

Fry Fish Paste

  • 1)

    Add enough oil for deep-frying to a pot and heat to about 150 degrees Celcius or about 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

  • 2)

    When the oil is ready, start piping the fish paste into the oil. You can use a knife or scissors to cut off the fish cake to the length you want. Take the fish cake out when they turn lightly golden. Continue frying until you run out of fish paste.

  • 3)

    When you’re done frying all the fish cake, heat up the oil again and fry the fish cake for the second time. This will ensure the fish cake is cooked through. When the fish cakes become golden brown, take them out and serve them with the dipping sauce.

Make Dipping Sauce

  • 1)

    Mix 3 tbsp of ketchup, 1 tsp of sugar, 1 tsp of rice vinegar, and 1 tsp of miso until everything is well combined and there is no lump.

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