Golden crispy shrimp and vegetable tempura served over steamed rice and drizzled with tentsuyu dipping sauce, this Tendon or Tempura Donburi (Rice Bowl) recipe makes a special weekend dinner for your loved ones!

Tendon (天丼) is a short name for Tempura Donburi (天ぷら丼ぶり) or Tempura Bowl. If you are in Japan and see Tendon on the menu, don’t worry, it’s not “connective tissue” that’s being served. 🙂
Like many of you, my family dips tempura in Tsuyu (dipping sauce) or sprinkles sea salt to enjoy. Today I want to introduce you to another way to enjoy tempura, which is tempura served over steamed rice in a donburi bowl.
Table of Contents
How to Make Tendon (Tempura Bowl)
Step 1. Make Tempura
Tendon (Tempura Rice Bowl) consists of assorted tempura served on top of a bed of steamed rice in a large donburi bowl. The type of tempura can be anything, but I recommend serving both Shrimp Tempura and Vegetable Tempura.
Step 2. Make Ten Tsuyu or “Tare”
When tempura is served over the rice bowl, the tempura dipping sauce is usually saltier and thicker since it’s enjoyed with plain rice. You can reduce the regular tempura dipping sauce by letting the moisture evaporate, which thickens the sauce. You can also add a bit of mirin or/and sugar to make it slightly sweeter.
Step 3. Assemble Tempura to Make Donburi (Rice Bowl)
Unlike regular tempura, we don’t dip the tempura in a dipping sauce. Instead, tempura sauce or Tsuyu is drizzled over the rice generously. Then serve hot tempura over the rice in a circular shape so that it looks more organized and appetizing. Drizzle the sauce over the tempura and ready to serve!

Make Donburi (Rice Bowl) for a Quick Dinner
I usually make a donburi dish when my children have lots of activities because donburi does not take much time to prepare. I would make miso soup, salad, and a donburi dish. Here are my go-to Donburi recipes.
- Gyudon
- Oyakodon
- Unadon (Unagi Don)
- Chicken Katsu Don
- Tekka Don (Tuna Bowl)
- Salmon & Salmon Roe Don
- Soboro Don
A typical donburi dish requires 30 minutes or less to prepare.
Crispy crunchy tempura on rice is simply delicious. If you are eating leftover tempura on the following day, make sure to re-heat tempura in a toaster oven or oven. DO NOT use a microwave to heat up because it will make them soggy. Enjoy!

Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.

Tendon (Tempura Rice Bowl)
Ingredients
- 1 serving cooked Japanese short-grain rice (typically 1⅔ cups (250 g) per donburi serving)
- 1 serving shrimp tempura (you can make my Shrimp Tempura recipe)
- 1 serving vegetable tempura (you can make my Vegetable Tempura recipe)
- 1 serving tempura dipping sauce (you can make my Tempura Dipping Sauce (Tentsuyu) recipe
Instructions
Plan your Tendon
- This recipe is to guide you through assembling Tendon. Therefore, the recipe does not include the prep and cook time for your tempura, tempura sauce, or steamed rice. Please look at my tempura recipes for more details because the prep/cook time varies depends on serving size and ingredients of your choice.
- For the steamed rice, please note that ¾ cup (150 g, 1 rice cooker cup) of uncooked Japanese short-grain rice yields 2¼ US cups (330 g) of cooked white rice, enough for 1 donburi serving (typically 1⅔ cups or 250 g). See how to cook short-grain rice with a rice cooker, pot over the stove, Instant Pot, or donabe.
To Use Leftover Tempura
- If you use leftover tempura from the previous day, reheat the tempura in the oven or oven toaster. Do not microwave as the tempura batter gets too soft.
To Make the Tempura Sauce
- Follow tempura dipping sauce recipe in my shrimp tempura or vegetable tempura recipes. Let the sauce simmer and reduce until the sauce starts to thicken. You can also add sugar and/or mirin to sweeten a little (optional) as it's tastier when served with steamed rice.
To Make Fresh Tempura
- Whether you make shrimp tempura, vegetable tempura, or gluten-free tempura, adjust the ingredients based on the number of tempura bowls you plan to make.
To Assemble the Tendon
- Assemble the Tendon. Put 1 serving cooked Japanese short-grain rice in a donburi bowl, drizzle some tempura sauce on the rice, and place 1 serving shrimp tempura and 1 serving vegetable tempura on top. Drizzle generously the rest of the 1 serving tempura dipping sauce on top of the tempura. Alternatively, instead of drizzling the sauce on top, you can quickly dip the tempura in the sauce before placing it on top of a bed of steamed rice.
今日、天丼を作りました。今、天丼は私の好きな丼ぶり! 天丼は、さつまいも、にんじん、牛蒡、れんこん、チキン、とエビがありました。全部大好きでした! I followed the directions for the tempura batter and it stuck perfectly to the ingredients. I should also mention that the tempura sauce was AMAZING. If you have not tried this recipe, I strongly recommend it.
ナミさん、ありがとうございます!
こんにちは、Jarrett!優しいコメントありがとう!美味しそうに作ってもらえて、私も嬉しいです。天丼大好き!ちょっと面倒だけど、揚げたての天ぷらは美味しいですね。天つゆも気に入ってもらえてよかったです。どうもありがとう!!
[…] Ten Don […]
[…] being a standalone dish, shrimp tempura is also served as part of donburi (Tendon 天丼) or noodle soup (Tempura […]
Hi Nami!
Love all your recipes and your site is my go to when i wanna recreate Japanese food ive had in Japan after living there for 8 years.
This one is next on my list! I just have one question. When i was there, the tempura in tendon is usually served with a sweeter and thicker teriyaki-like sauce and not the usual tempura dipping sauce as featured in this recipe. Would you happen to have a recipe for that sauce?
Hi Carmela! Thank you for your kind words and I’m happy to hear you enjoy my site. 🙂
What you had is a thicker (and usually sweeter) version of tempura dipping sauce. Some use thin sauce while others make it sweeter and thicken the sauce with either reducing it or/and adding starch. We don’t call this sauce “Teriyaki sauce” but as you probably know, the ingredients for making teriyaki sauce is same, just the different ratio…
I like japanese food because i cook japanese food if i joining japanese officers on board i am ship cook!!!!
Hi Lando! Wow that’s really cool! Japanese officers must be happy to have you as a chef! 🙂
Hi Nami-san!
Your Tendon looks so…so…GORGEOUS!
Tenkomori!! 🙂
I love ‘don’ dish, especially Tendon.
This Tendon got everything I love on it!
You even got a Renkon and Shiso leaf!!
Wow…another amazing dish.
Thanks!
Hi Ayako-san! Thank you! I love renkon and all the root vegetables for tempura. They are my favorite, more than shrimp tempura! And shiso leaf… yeah we need some green color in there! 😉 Thank you for your comment!
Oh, how I wish this bowl was in front of me right now! =) Piping-hot shrimp tempura on a bed of rice is absolute bliss. Thanks for sharing the simple recipe with us.
Thank you Kimmi! Yeah piping hot tempura sounds good right now… and still 9:30! 😀