Happy National Tempura Day! Let's chat and a have a contest!

[siskataya]

Hey everyone!

It has been brought to my attention that today is (at least here in the US) National Tempura Day! We here at Gaia HQ love great food, and we definitely do love tempura! Hard NOT to love those lightly-battered, golden-fried chunks of vegetables, shrimp, or any other manner of ingredients! Om nom nom... makes my mouth water just thinking about it!

Anyway, to celebrate this tasty dish, we thought we'd have a little contest! All you have to do is post in this thread and let us know what your favorite type of tempura is and why, and if your post is randomly selected, you'll win what I lovingly call a "Deep-Fried Prize Pack" XD

Read below for contest details and rules!
-Sisky

[siskataya]

yum_shrimp yum_tamago Tempura Day Contest Rules and Guidelines! yum_tamago yum_shrimp

What is the purpose of this contest??
To celebrate the fabulous food dish called tempura! Also, to be able to hang out with you, talk about food, and give away some awesome prizes!

What is tempura anyway - I've never had it!?!
Tempura is a food dish composed of vegetables or seafood that have been lightly battered then fried! Although tempura is associated with Japanese cuisine, many different countries and cultures have a similar dish in their local cuisine - it's a popular treat world wide!

Tempura sounds tasty and this sounds like an awesome contest - how do I enter?
Entering is super easy! You just have to post in this thread and describe your favorite type of tempura and why you like it! In your entry post, please use the following format so it is easy to spot as an official entry:

Quote:

* Username
* Favorite type of tempura dish
* Brief description of why you love it!

So, an example of what your entry should look like is:

Quote:

*Username: siskataya
Favorite type of tempura dish: Shrimp tempura
Why I love it: Because the light batter makes the shrimp so tasty and juicy, and it is not too filling. It's just yummy! I really like it with tempura sauce too.

I don't live in the US - can I enter this contest?
Sure can! As long as your country allows you to participate in such contests, we welcome you to join the fun! (By entering, you acknowledge that you have checked, and your country allows you to participate in contests like this!)

My country/culture serves something similar, but it is not called tempura - can I still enter?
Absolutely! If you have a local dish that is similar, please let us know what it is in the "Favorite type of tempura" section of the entry post. Make sure to describe what goes into the dish that makes it similar. We'd love to learn about new recipes from around the world, so please feel free to share!

What are the prizes - what goodies does the "Deep-Fried Prize Pack" contain ?
Each day of the contest, 3 lucky winners will be selected to win the "Deep-Fried Prize Pack" which contains the following:
* 250,000 Gaia gold
* A Black Deluxe Bento Box item
* A Sushi Error item
* A Black Floral Short Kimono item

How long does this contest run?
This contest runs from January 7th - January 11th - basically, you have until the end of day this Friday (11:59 pm PT on Friday) to participate

Any other rules I should remember before posting?
You may enter more than once, every day of the contest in fact, but no using mules too - pick one account and enter on that one! Also, no posting content that is inappropriate for Gaia, or which violates Gaia's Terms of Service or Rules and Guidelines!

[siskataya]

yum_shrimp yum_tamago Tempura Day Contest Updates and Info! yum_tamago yum_shrimp

Just reserving a post in case there are any updates and info I need to share!

[siskataya]

yum_shrimp yum_tamago Tempura Day Contest Winners' List! yum_tamago yum_shrimp


Winners for January 7th: Isabeau Abyss, Lazarus Larkin, and The Scottish Knight
Winners for January 8th: Lance Gambino, Sanjian, and Nie Chan
Winners for January 9th: Tempura Komuro, Magical Jellyfish, Kurai_Yamino
Winners for January 10th: MiniLollpop, Doppler Effect, arrowmaker

[Consulting Time Lord]

Username: Consulting Time Lord

Favorite tempura: my favorite Tempura is tempura shrimp and tempura chicken. Also, tempura vegetables.

Reason why: because they are tasty and deep-fried and delicious and Japanese! emotion_kirakira I remember the first time I ate tempura... well, I think I do, anyway! xd
When I was a kid I was a picky eater like you have no idea. I never ate anything. Now I'm a foodie and love food so much... and thanks to my high metabolism I can eat all the tempura I want! 4laugh

emotion_omnomnom Now I'm hungry, thanks, Sisky...

[x_LovelyDagger_x]

* x_LovelyDagger_x
* Chicken Tempera
* Chicken Tempera was my very first try at it, and it was so yummy. I loved it to pieces! I means alot to me because at the time, a brand new hibachi grill had opened up in my town. So my boyfriend took my out on a date there to try it out. The place was beautiful, the food was so yummy and then the best part - that's how my boyfriend was upgraded to a fiancee. So tempura, you rock!!

[little bunnies]

* Username: little bunnies
* Favorite type of tempura dish: Aubergine tempura
* Brief description of why you love it! : Well eggplant/aubergine is my favorite veggie! Of course, it's even better fried! The tempura batter gives it a nice crunch instead of its usual mushy consistency and enhances the delicious flavor. It's delectable!

[Dhyffyd]

* Username: Isabeau Abyss
* Favorite type of tempura dish: Vegetable Tempura
* Brief description of why you love it! : Gots to love me some crispy but soft in the middles vegies! Oh and the dip! NOMS

[Memoirii]

* Username: Memoirii
* Favorite type of tempura dish: Vegetable Tempura!
* Brief description of why you love it!: It makes me feel better about eating something fried because it's vegetables! wink Haha, and it's tasty!

[crydamoure]

Username: Pure Russian Vodka

Favorite type of tempura dish: Crab tempura

Why I love it: Because the warm strings of crab meat taste so nice in my mouth, they're sweet and salty and pure delicious. Though the Japanese resturaunt that sold them in my area is closed down now, I will always adore that heavenly taste for years to come.

[raeesmerelda]

Username: raeesmerelda

Favorite type of tempura dish: shrimp tempura

Brief description of why you love it: It's yummy, not heavy like regular fried shrimp, and also the easiest to acquire (through Schwan's, so I don't have to worry about burning myself with hot oil!).

[Glass Lily]

* Username: Glass Lily
* Favorite type of tempura dish: Shrimp tempura as in Tendon
* Brief description of why you love it!
The shrimp is delicious, and the tempura is light and crisp heart It's perfect over a bowl of rice with sauce in Tendon (tempura bowl). It makes me think of my semester in Japan, where tempura was always a safe bet when out to eat (not that I didn't love to try new things too -- I definitely did!). I wish I knew of a close place to get it in the U.S.

[JadeToniRitsa]

* Username: JadeToniRitsa
* Favorite type of tempura dish: Carrot Tempura
* Brief description of why you love it: It was the first kind of tempura I ever had~! We were at a Japanese place when I was 8 and I didn't know what I wanted to eat because I disliked seawood and fish (both smelled too strongly at the time). My friend had ordered tempura udon but only ate the shrimp tempura. I liked carrots, so I tried a carrot tempura. Then I dipped it in tempura sauce and WA-LAH~! Conversion to Japanese food lover! Especially of tempura!

[Kisatriss]

I feel a bit silly joining... Only had Tempra once and It was on my sushi.

username: Hottie yoko
Favorite type of tempra dish: Shrimp I believe. It could have been a veggie.
Why I like it: When I had it the tempra was on my Crunchy Munchy Sushi, Which had Shrimp, and I believe it was shrimp Tempra. I like it because It added just the right amount of Crunch to my Sushi. It was like eating a little peice of heaven. I'm hungry now. gonk

[starzXnight]

Mmm... tempura emotion_drool

* Username: starzXnight
* Favorite type of tempura dish: Potato tempura!
* Brief description of why you love it: For whatever reason, thinly sliced potatoes coated in tempura absorb the perfect amount the tempura sauce emotion_drool It's amazing emotion_kirakira