T E M P E H — Living vibrantly in bowls

I first learned about Tempeh when I visited Bali 3 years ago and, frankly, that experience wasn’t exciting at all. We attended a cooking class and a few of the recipes we have to prepare uses chicken as its main ingredient. For those of you who don’t know, I’m actually allergic to chicken. That said, they told us that we should just replace chicken with tempeh and it should be all good.

My first impression with tempeh was that it was so-so. It definitely has texture in it, but the flavor wasn’t really that powerful. I partly blame myself for it as well because I was the one who cooked it. But actually, I realized the recipes we tried during our cooking class wasn’t really meant for tempeh and was originally structured for chicken.

Fast forward to today. I’m glad I finally found a way on how I can enjoy this soy-based meat alternative in different flavors. I think the key to making tempeh so flavourful is to make sure you marinate it for hours, or even for a day if you can. I know guys - patience is a virtue, but in the end, you will not regret it! Enjoying tempeh can actually give you a lot of nutritional benefits. It is rich in protein, and actually has a lot of probiotics which is wonderful for your gut health. It is also known to reduce cholesterol, and improve overall bone health.

Now that I’ve shared a bit about how I met tempeh and why I think it’s amazing, let’s get on with the recipe! I’ll be sharing 3 marinade recipes you can use for your tempeh - Classic, Peanut, and Filipino Barbecue style marinade (Hello there, Filipino friends!)

Classic

3 Tbsp Tamari
3 Tbsp Lemon juice
1 ½ tsp Sesame oil

Peanut

2 ½ Tbsp salted peanut butter
1 ½ Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce or Tamari
2-3 Tbsp Maple syrup
2 Tbsp Lime juice

Filipino Barbecue

¼ cup tomato ketchup
¼ cup canola oil
¼ cup – ½ cup brown sugar
Soy sauce
2 cloves of minced garlic
Pepper
Liquid smoke if grilling outdoors *Optional

Instructions:

Steam your block of tempeh for about 12 minutes. This will help lessen the nutty, earthy and close-to-bitter taste of tempeh. I personally skip this step when I work with tempeh, as I think the brand I’m using now is actually that good it needs no steaming at all. I use the brand Tonzu, by the way. But if you are trying tempeh for the first time, I highly suggest that you don’t skip this part. While you wait – Mix the ingredients for your desired marinade and adjust flavour as needed.

Once you are done steaming the tempeh: rinse, pat dry and slice the tempeh into strips. I prefer thin strips versus thick ones as it soaks up the marinade easily. Thin slices are also best if you want to cook your tempeh by air-frying it.

Add the sliced tempeh to the marinade and make sure to evenly coat the strips. Cover and set aside for as long as you want! The longer, the better, guys. Just don’t go crazy marinating it for more than 24 hours :P

Once marinated, you can grill, bake, or air-fry your tempeh and devour into its powerful flavour! For this particular recipe, I air-fried it for 8 minutes and didn’t mind flipping the sides. Both sides turned out crispy and delish! Served mine with brown rice and a big serving of salad on the side. You can also use it in burgers, spring rolls, or tacos or even eat it on its own. Think of using tempeh as how you would normally use meat and the possibilities are endless!

Hope you enjoyed reading and if you happen to try this recipe, please let us know! Would love to know what your thoughts are, and see what you've come up with. Don't forget to tag us on Instagram!