Tempura evolved during the Edo period [1603–1868], and the emphasis back then was on frying fresh fish caught offshore close to the city of Edo, today’s Tokyo.

Kondo famously calls tempura a “steamed food.” The batter he developed is so sheer and enveloping that seafood and vegetables cook to precise tenderness as the exterior fries to a crackle.

Some, if not most, of the stellar ones are expensive (Mikawa Zezankyo, Kondo, Rakutei), but there are values to be found throughout the metropolis at places like Tsunahachi and the original ...