Ika Fry vs Ika Ten: Japanese Fried Squid Snacks

There are a variety of dried squid snacks in Japan, as we traditionally love them.

Among those, “Ika Fry (イカフライ)” and “Ika Ten (イカ天)” are widely enjoyed, and they are relatively well known to people overseas, thanks to the Japanese food boom.

Ika Fry vs. Ika Ten

As Ika Fry and Ika Ten are very similar foods, I didn’t know how they differ until now. So today, I did online research about it, and here I share what I got.

Ika Fry (イカフライ)

First, Ika Fry (Furai) is the generic term for foods made by deep-frying squid coated in batter. It includes “Ika Ring (イカリング)”, “Ika Ball (イカボール)”, and “Ika Ten (イカ天)”.

Ika Ring, also known as fried calamari, is a deep-fried squid body slice, while Ika Ball is a deep-fried squid mince meatball.

The batter or coating for Ika Fry comes in 2 types; one uses panko breadcrumbs like “Katsu (カツ)“, while the other uses no breadcrumbs like “Karaage (唐揚げ)“.

Ika Ten (イカ天)

Ika Ten, or Ika no Tempura is squid’s Tempura, which comes in three types.

One is literally squid Tempura made by deep-frying squid coated in the batter of wheat flour and hen’s egg.

Another refers to a deep-fried “Kamaboko (蒲鉾)” typically made with chopped squid meat and surimi fish paste.

And the last refers to a snack called Ikaten, which is produced by deep-frying “Surume (するめ)” squid coated in batter.

(Reference Pages: Wikipedia イカフライ, イカ天 )