Watch a Chef in Japan Cook Tempura with His Bare Hands

A video has been doing the rounds on Twitter of a chef in Japan who seems to have no trouble at all plunging his hands into boiling oil while making tempura.

The video, which was shared by Twitter user @Yuku1991, shows the chef at a restaurant called Tenkin in Hamamatsu placing pieces of food in tempura batter before dunking them and his fingers in the oil.

現時点の人生で一番好きな飲食店は、浜松駅前にある天錦。税込1,000円で最高の天丼が食べられる。店主は職人技を極めすぎて天ぷら油に素手突っ込んで卵黄揚げてる。これ口で言うとみんなに「は？」って顔されるけど言葉通りのパフォーマンスだから動画で見て。 pic.twitter.com/Ycu20RBECe

— ゆく nʞnʎ (@Yuku1991) August 15, 2018

How does he do it? Well the suggestion is that this fearless feat may be down to something called the Leidenfrost effect, which means that when a much colder liquid, i.e. the batter, comes into contact with a substance that is much hotter than the liquid's boiling point, i.e. the oil, an insulating vapour is created.

However he does it, it’s certainly a neat trick and reminds us of the chef in Thailand, below, who fries chicken with his bare hands.