[7][8] The recipe may call for gently sliding the dollop of battered ingredients into hot oil,[6] and since it may try to break apart, a spatula may be used to hold it into place until the shape has set.

[9] There is a modern-day implement being sold called a kakiage ring to assist in its cooking—a cylindrical, perforated sheet metal mold on a handle.

[14][15] Another standard is using a type of small "scallops" called kobashira [ja] which are actually the adductor muscles of the bakagai or aoyagi clams (Mactra chinensis).

[18] The kakiage is so-named because one "mixes up" kakimazeru (かき混ぜる) the ingredients before they are fried, or so it has been claimed, e.g., by the tempura chef and proprietor of Tenkichi [ja] in Yokohama.

[22][23] The former shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu (1837–1913) was a regular customer at the tempura restaurant Tenkin [ja], where he would order an especially large kakiage, served on a Nabeshima plate.