Tempura　天ぷら

Tempura has become an indispensable part of Japanese food. It is a popular dish that is always mentioned as one of the “Japanese food that you want to eat” and “Japanese food that was delicious” by foreign tourists who are increasing year by year. However, tempura is not an ancient Japanese dish, but a Nanban dish that was introduced from Portugal to Nagasaki with the introduction of guns about 400 years ago (in the middle of the 16th century). In Japan at that time, oil was very valuable for lighting, so tempura, which uses a large amount of oil for cooking, was treated as a luxury dish. With the increase in oil production in the Edo period, tempura gradually became popular with the common people. At first, it was a stand-up stall, and it seemed that it was eaten more like a snack than a side dish. It was after the Meiji era that specialty stores and restaurants for tempura dishes began to appear.

今や和食には欠かせない存在となっている天ぷら。年々増えている外国人観光客からも「食べたい和食」「おいしかった和食」の一つとして常に名前があがる人気の料理です。しかし、天ぷらは日本古来の料理ではなく、今から約400年前（16世紀の中頃）鉄砲の伝来とともにポルトガルから長崎に伝わった南蛮料理です。当時の日本では油は灯火用の大変貴重なものだったため、調理に大量の油を使用する天ぷらは高級品として扱われていました。江戸時代に入り油の生産が増えた事によって、天ぷらは次第に庶民の大衆料理として広まっていきました。はじめは立ち食い屋台で、おかずと言うよりは間食のような感覚食べられていたようです。天ぷら料理の専門店や料亭が出現しはじめたのは明治以降の事です。