When I started this blog a month ago, I thought that tempeh was a Japanese avantgarde designer.
Today I know better.
Tempeh is a traditional Indonesian fermented soybean cake. It is absolutely delicious and can be used as vegetarian “meat” (and it tastes so much better than meat!) in any kind of form – grilled, baked, cooked…whatever.
You’ll find tempeh at any natural food store. Beside its delicious nutty, mushroom-y taste, tempeh is a protein powerhouse and rich in fiber.
This recipe serves 4 people: (or 2 very hungry ones, as tonight’s dinner proved…)
Steam the tempeh for 10 minutes and marinate it with the following ingredients for min. 1 hour
- freshly grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon mirin (mirin is a Japanese rice wine)
- 2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
- a garlic clove
To prepare the broth use
- half a cup of tamari soy sauce (125 ml)
- 1/3 cup mirin (75 ml)
- some freshly grated ginger
- 3 cups of water (700 ml)
- 3 tablespoons of rice vinegar
For the soup you’ll need
- any kind of shredded green cabbage
- 6 shiitake mushrooms
- soba noodles (Japanese buckwheat noodles)
- frozen peas
- spring onions
Bring the soy sauce, mirin, water, rice vinegar and ginger to a boil.
Add the shitake mushrooms, the frozen peas and let simmer until the ingredients are soft (at least 10 minutes).
Sauté the ginger infused tempeh in a frying pan for a few seconds and add to the soup, together with the cabbage.
Cook the soba noodles on the side and add to the soup.
Add the spring onions.
Ready!
This recipe is originally from Peter Berley’s “The Flexitarian Table”, but as usual, I’ve changed it a bit, adding and dropping ingredients.
To learn more about tempeh and for some truly great recipes, check out http://www.compassionatecooks.com
Picture by Wikipedia
April 10, 2008 at 5:59 am
thanks, this looks yummy. I found tempeh in the supermarket the other day and wondered how I’d cook it, so this is great…