The rice-bowl style that serves tempura shrimp and vegetables over steamed rice is tendon.
Tendon is a type of donburi, the Japanese category of dishes built around a large bowl of rice with toppings. Its name abbreviates tenpura don, literally “tempura bowl.” The topping commonly includes battered shrimp, vegetables, or both, often finished with a sweet-savory sauce related to tentsuyu.
Tendon is easy to confuse with other -don dishes. Katsudon uses a breaded pork cutlet, oyakodon combines chicken and egg, and gyudon features beef and onion. The shared suffix refers to the rice-bowl format, not to a particular cooking technique.
Tempura itself entered Japan through Portuguese-influenced frying techniques in the 16th century, but tendon developed within Japan’s later donburi and tempura traditions. It differs from tempura soba or tempura udon because the tempura is served over rice rather than noodles in broth.