People who are vegetarian or want to eat less meat always ask me how to cook tofu to make it taste less… well, like tofu. Here’s my answer: I don’t really eat tofu all that much; tempeh has a much more natural taste and texture to it and the process for making it is a little less sketchy.
The second part to the answer is this recipe. Sometimes I eat tempeh plain because it tastes fine on its own to me, but when I do cook it I use this sauce. It’s only 2 ingredients and incredibly easy to make; it’s a great one for beginner cooks who aren’t looking to tackle long ingredient lists for flavorful food.
This dish is also really easy to make gluten-free. Just make sure to use wheat-free soy sauce and that the tempeh doesn’t have any grains fermented in it; the ingredients should just be soy beans, vinegar, and salt.
Maple Soy Tempeh
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Ingredients(Makes 2 servings):
- 1 block of tempeh
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 3 Tablespoons maple syrup
Method:
- Dice the tempeh into bite-sized pieces
- Heat together the tempeh, maple syrup, and soy sauce in a large pan over medium heat.
- Turn the tempeh occasionally as the liquid boils off into a glaze. Make sure all sides get covered in sauce.
- When most of the liquid has boiled off, remove the pan from the heat and scoop the tempeh out. Serve hot or cold as leftovers.
If you have trouble cleaning the pan afterwards, simply put it back on the hot burner and pour in some vinegar to loosen the glaze. Wipe the rest off with a folded paper towel or reduce it and pour over as a sauce.
Yay! I eat a lot of tempeh, but usually do something really boring with it. I’ll have to give this a shot.
Love your blog…photos are beautiful. So glad to have found you!
I eat a lot more tempeh than tofu also, it digests better and tastes great alone to me. This recipe looks simple and great, thanks!
I have had a block of tempeh in my fridge for about a week now because I didn’t know what to do with it. I’ll have to try this out!
When I was in Bali recently I was in tempeh heaven! They smother it in a peanut satay sauce and it was to. die. for 🙂
I usually like to steam tempeh before I cook it to take away some of the bitterness. Because I’d be cooking it in a liquid anyway, do you think this step would be unecessary?
I think the sourness of the tempeh balances with the sweet and salty flavors really well which is why I didn’t have to add any rice vinegar or anything to give it a punch. But then again I don’t find plain tempeh to be all that bitter on its own to begin with. Maybe it’s a brand differentiation? I usually use SoyBoy.
Tempeh is my favourite vegan protein – love the texture, love how it takes to flavour, love everything about it. I’ve actually never had it this flavour before – I’ve always done it spicy. Gotta try it this way!
I’ve never thought of making tempeh in a sauce but it’s a good idea. I usually just add it to a skillet with a bit of oil and sometimes vegetable broth and then just saute it with a bunch of vegetables.
What is tempeh??
Good question: It’s soy beans that have been fermented and squeezed together into a sort of log. It has a tougher texture than tofu and a nuttier flavor.
I’m so glad I just found this! I love tofu, but was wanting to try tempeh and wasn’t sure how to cook it.
[…] marinade is loosely based off of Evan’s wonderful maple soy tempeh. Highly recommended if you’re looking for a quick tempeh […]