Translated by Oliver Slay from Nishikawa Genbo's Dare ni demo dekiru Shojin Ryori II - ('Shojin Ryori anyone can do')
Ingredients:
12x whole Chrysanthemum flowers (broken up flower heads don't look so good...) - a mix of colours looks good.
Dried flowers from a chinese supermarket are for making tea - they won't look as good as fresher ones.
Time to start growing some from seed (buy online - some supermarkets/delicatessens sell them too) - don't just buy any old chrysanthemum
Tempura mix - choose your amounts - mix some flour with water to make a thin batter - play with amounts...
Plain flour
Water - try cold water and try carbonated water...
Salt
Oil deep enough to submerge the heads
Method:
Heat up the oil in the pan
Mix up the batter to make a batter of good consistency... not too thin and not too heavy...
Thinly coat the whole chrysanthemum heads in the batter - the aim is not to cover up all the colour of the flowers...
Quickly deep-fry the chrysanthemum head in the oil. Just enough to crisp the batter - not enough to wilt or damage the head.
Notes:
Edible chrysanthemum flowers come in yellow and purple varieties. They can be served by blanching the petals, as pickles or a side dish; Tempura also - a taste of the season!
Advice:
If you add some vinegar to hot water (just boiled) and dip/blanch the chrysanthemum heads in very quickly, it's a good way to bring out the most impressive chrysanthemum colours.
[Oliver: Not sure if he is suggesting that you blanch the flowers really quickly in slightly vinegared water before battering and deep frying... we'll have to try experimenting with this before I can say for sure.]