Tempura is a Japanese food. Most of the time it's shrimp or prawn that's battered and deep fried. There's also vegetable tempura.
If the basic formulation for tempura is seafood that's battered then deep fried, then I believe we have our own local version of the tempura here in the Philippines. We call it Calamares.
Calamares is one of the may street foods of the Philippines. Strips of squid are battered and deep fried. Although some aren't cooked to a crisp, we still snack on them.
So what's the difference between Calamares and your run-in-the-mill Tiger Prawn Tempura? The tempura that you buy in Japanese restaurants are crisp except when they're in your ramen. The Calamares doesn't have to be dipped in batter. Sometimes, the Calamares is dipped in beaten egg then breaded to get the same effect as being dipped in batter.
So do you think we have our version of Tempura? You decide.
