This easy curry will change your mind about tempeh
It's tempeh week on TNB! 🥘
Hi friends,
Welcome to week 4 of exploring the foundations of whole-food plant-based cooking in my “Back to Basics” series. This week is dedicated to an ingredient a lot of people feel lukewarm about - one that I’m constantly trying to make cool and sexy: tempeh.
For the uninitiated, tempeh (pronounced tem-pay) is a traditional Indonesian food and go-to protein source for vegans all over the world. To make tempeh, soybeans are cooked, then fermented together into a block.
Since tofu and tempeh are both made from soybeans, they’re packed with protein and fiber, and minerals like iron, zinc, calcium, and magnesium. But unlike tofu – which is essentially coagulated soy milk – tempeh is made out of whole soybeans, so more of their nutrients remain intact. It’s for this reason that tempeh is considered a “whole food” by purists, while tofu is not.
Which is not to say I have anything against tofu! On the contrary, I eat it all the time. But whereas most plant-based cooks have figured out tofu long ago, many are still on the fence about tempeh.
Straight out of the package, tempeh has an earthy, bitter flavor that has many people convinced they don’t like tempeh. And yes, tempeh does require a bit more prep than tofu, since you can’t just fry it up and eat it (well, you technically can, but you’d be disappointed). Rather, to tame the bitterness, tempeh should be marinated, steamed, or simmered in a flavored liquid first.
This brand-new tempeh curry shows you how to do just that and is a great starter recipe for tempeh beginners…
P.S. No time to read now? Pin the recipe for later.