For half a century, this culinary artisan has spread the word of tempura around the world. By introducing vegetables, Tempura Kondo sought to establish tempura as a cuisine not only of Japan but of the world. Tempura, the chef explains, may technically be a fried food but its true nature is a steamed food. The flavour of each tempura piece is elicited by enrobing it in batter and using hot oil to draw out the moisture. The chef’s tempura of sweet potato, created to surpass the flavour of baked sweet potato, is typical of this.