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! :)