Nobu's Spicy Shrimp Tempura (2024)

One of my favorite features of Bon Appetit magazine has always been the r.s.v.p. section. This is where readers write to ask the Bon Appetit staff to chase down chefs in order to discover the recipes of their favorite restaurant meals. I’ve never written in myself, but have loved reading about people’s special food memories, and their quest to uncover the secrets to making a beloved “restaurant” dish at home.

That said, the boys and I came across a dish this past Spring, that had I not already had the recipe in a cookbook I owned (how lucky was that?), I almost certainly would have been begging Bon Appetit to get it for me. My desperation not only driven by how perfectly tasty the dish is, but also by Grid relentlessly hounding me to figure out how to make Nobu’s “Tempura Shrimp with Creamy Spicy Sauce”….man, you’d think I never feed the kid.

The dish is so addictive that when we ordered it as a shared appetizer, I started to really fear that someone was going to get hurt, as the four of us stabbed our chopsticks into the serving bowl to fight for our share. It got UGLY in a hurry!

Thankfully, the beneficent Nobu Matsuhisa included this relatively simple recipe in his “Nobu Now” cookbook, and I, in my infinite wisdom, thought it a grand idea to buy the book a few years back. As Gridley would surely tell you himself, this recipe is delicious, and easy enough to eat every night, but given that is essentially consists of deep fried shrimp tossed in freshly made mayonnaise and a splash of Yuzu Juice – 750 ml , your cardiologist may advise you to make it a bit less frequently.

Grid made this so many times over the holidays that he is absolutely my go-to guy when I feel the need. In fact, I believe the young man was on a bit of a mission, desperately attempting to enlighten all of our holiday guests as to the joys of Nobu’s shrimp. Folks would no sooner have their jackets hung before Grid was asking if he could make them some tempura.

PLEASE LET ME MAKE IT FOR YOU….IT WILL TOTALLY CHANGE YOUR LIFE!

He has mastered not only the homemade spicy mayo, or as Nobu calls it, the “Creamy Spicy Sauce”, but also the ins and outs of deep frying.

The dish is a great hors d’oeuvre to be skewered with toothpicks while enjoying a co*cktail, or as we had it a few nights ago, as an entree accompanied by some plain rice, and stir-fried Chinese broccoli and shiitake mushrooms.