Tempeh-ting!

HOW have I LIVED without Tempeh in my life?! Thanks to my new friend from Germany, Lutz, I am now addicted to Tempeh. I just know that when I've almost finished the block I'm going to have a little panic attack until I get my hands on some more before the junkie-type withdrawal symptoms set in.... can't be fun having to go cold-tofurkey!!

For those of you who do not know what Tempeh is:

"Tempeh, or tempe in Indonesian, is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form. Tempeh is unique among major traditional soy-foods in that it is the only one that did not originate in China or Japan. It originated in today's Indonesia, and is especially popular on the island of Java, where it is a staple source of protein. Like tofu, tempeh is made from soybeans, but tempeh is a whole soybean product with different nutritional characteristics and textural qualities. Tempeh's fermentation process and its retention of the whole bean give it a higher content of protein, dietary fiber, and vitamin. It has a firm texture and strong flavor. Because of its nutritional value, tempeh is used worldwide in vegetarian cuisine; some consider it to be a meat analogue."

So here are a few photos of my Tempeh experiments. Being very new to all this I kept it quite simple. First is fillets of Tempeh marinaded in barbecue sauce and grilled on the George Foreman, with curly kale that has been cooked and then tossed in sesame oil.  

Lutz recommended that I tried frying up some tempeh in soya sauce and then glazed it with agave nectar. It's so easy and simple but the taste is just SO good! I think it really brings out the nuttiness of the tempeh's taste and texture, and cutting them into bite-sized cubes meant that they could mix well into the quinoa I made to go with them. All I did there was cook the quinoa for about 15 minutes and stir in some fried pepper, onion and garlic, then seasoned with some Chinese five-spice.

Here is a simple Thai Green Curry that I made with coconut milk, Tesco's own green curry paste, spring onions, red peppers, lemongrass & lime juice. Mmmmm, it was good!

If any of you can read German check out Lutz's activism website kreaktivisten.org to get the low-down on how to make graffiti stencils, stickers, buttons and much more to raise awareness against animal cruelty. Good work, man! :)

Experimenting

I absolutely love trying new food. Today was one of those great days where everything you eat is amazing. I went into town with a friend and had a lovely spicy bulgar wheat and chickpea salad at the Gourmet Burger Kitchen which was really nice, apart from the fact that it came with Raita (cucumber yoghurt dressing) that I somehow totally missed on the menu. So I had to scrape what I could of it off.... they also have a good range of veggie and lentil burgers, falafels, etc. My friend had the puy lentil burger which looked delicious. We then went to a couple of art galleries before stopping off at the food market in Temple Bar. I love it here and had forgotten how good it is. There is even a raw vegan food stall with lovely cakes and crackers (all very expensive though!) and the Indian stall seems to have quite a few vegan options. I opted for a spicy carrot and chickpea kofta, it was served with a hot tomato sauce and I really wanted a samosa too - maybe next time...

I completely forgot to take photos of everything mentioned above!! (I'm absolutely useless)

I picked up some Tempeh at the Asian Market. Now I just need a recipe because I have no idea what to do with it!

I also picked up some canned Seitan (I have no idea where to find it packaged?) which is fried gluten. It comes in several different forms in the Asian Market, this one was "mock duck" and it has a really meaty taste so is a good substitute if you like that kind of thing. It also has quite a meaty texture and shreds the same as meat too. I thought I'd also try out a tin of Greek aubergines in tomatoes and onion sauce. Was lovely! I mixed the mock duck and the aubergines together and put them inside a rice wrap used to make Summer Rolls. I had two of these for my dinner and they were absolutely delicious! Probably not the healthiest, as the aubergine dish was quite oily and the gluten was fried - but it was a nice vegan junk food dinner that really satisfied my taste buds and it was still a lot healthier and cheaper than getting a takeaway ;)