Kakiage may use a modern cylindrical mold called a kakiage ring.
Kakiage is a type of tempura made by combining small pieces of seafood, vegetables, or both into a single fritter. Typical ingredients include small shrimp, scallop pieces, onion, carrot, burdock, and mitsuba. Rather than frying each ingredient separately, the cook gathers the battered mixture into a compact disk and lowers it into hot oil.
Because the loose mixture can break apart before the batter sets, a spatula may be used to hold it together during frying. The modern kakiage ring helps solve that problem. It is a cylindrical, perforated sheet-metal mold attached to a handle; the ingredients are placed inside, where the ring helps them retain their shape as the coating firms.
The name kakiage is traditionally linked to the idea of mixing or raking ingredients together. Kakiage is commonly served with tentsuyu dipping sauce and grated daikon, over rice as kakiage don, or on soba and udon. It is a fritter-like preparation, but its defining feature is the cluster of small pieces rather than a single large ingredient.