NTM Tuesday: Tempeh

After last week’s Dear Tofu post, I received alot of information from readers about the type of tofu I was using.  Maida and Kim both urged me to give tofu another try.  There was much discussion about the type of tofu I had tried and how it wouldn’t give me the consistency for which I had hoped.  They convinced me to give it another whirl.  The following day I happened to be a the grocery store.  I found the type of tofu they suggested and purchased a pack for $2.50.  Then, I saw the tempeh.  And I spent another $2.50.  I decided for $5 it was time to have the ultimate, last soy product showdown (or at least for this type of soy product. Soy milk and I love each other).  The only thing I could find was this 5 grain style Tempeh.  The original style was out.  Apparently, there are people in Baton Rouge that really like tempeh.  I figured, “Hey, grains.  I like those.”  So, I went home with a package of this stuff.

Upon returning home, I set the tempeh in the refrigerator and sat down to have a moment with Bittman.  I figured his book might give me some suggestions on what to do with this stuff.  I found a recipe that seemed simple enough: Crunchy Crumbled Tempeh, page 674.  This is basically just cooking tempeh in a small amount of oil to crisp it up.  Seasoning is black pepper and salt to taste.  This seemed simple, easy, and would give me the best idea if I liked tempeh.  More seasoning or other flavorings could always be added later.

Opening the package was an interesting experience.  A smell immediately wafted out from the package: bread.  This stuff smelled like bread to me, i.e. yeast.  I’m not sure if this is a natural smell of the tempeh itself or the grains that are embedded in this particular tempeh.  In all, it wasn’t an unpleasant smell.

The tempeh was sliced to get it ready for cooking.  It was at this point I nearly stopped and consulted the cookbook again.  I kept thinking this would be nice to fry up just like this.  But I plunged forward and kept going, cutting the tempeh the opposite way to cube it.

Tempeh went into a pan with a small amount of oil to cook, and then things got really interesting.  This was like trying to cook popcorn in an uncovered pot.  As I would stir the tempeh around, all of sudden something would making this small popping sound and fly out the pot.  Adventurous cooking indeed.  I have a feeling there was an excitable grain in there.

Once the tempeh was browned, I removed it to a napkin-lined plate to drain.  The taste wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t there.  My immediate thought was, “Sauce.  This stuff needs some moisture or sauce.”  And here is where my culinary inexperience gets me in trouble from time to time.  Though, I’m not sure if it was that or something else. Anyhow, the only sauce in the house was BBQ sauce.  I’d recently seen on Maida’s website where she had used BBQ sauce with tofu.  I thought maybe I could use it here.

I cooked down some finely diced onions and garlic.  Once cooked, the tempeh was placed back into the skillet, mixed with the onions, and a small amount of BBQ sauce was added to the mix.

To accompany this BBQ tempeh, I quartered two flour tortillas to make wedges.  In a small skillet, I heated a bit of canola oil and quickly fried the tortilla wedges in the oil.

Once it was all cooked, while tasty looking, trepidation set in and I began to worry.  This was only okay, with something off about the taste of the dish.  It was a bit cloying in the sweet sense.   And there was this underlying taste I wasn’t sure of.  I don’t know if the taste was the tempeh itself or the BBQ sauce used (Budweiser brand which is a new one for me).  Putting it into the flour tortilla and eating it seemed to balance it somewhat.  Trying to eat it alone though was a no go.  I have to admit that this is one dish that hit the garbage the next day.

Another issue is that this meal felt heavy in my stomach.  Really heavy, in an uncomfortable way.  I don’t know if this was the tempeh, the grains in this particular tempeh, or the way it was cooked.

Verdict: I won’t say I didn’t like the tempeh.  I’ll just say I didn’t like this preparation of it.  Or maybe it was the tempeh with grains.  I’m unsure what the issue might have been.  Tempeh has the most significant element in a meat substitute I like: consistency.  It’s a solid piece of food, with substance and body.  Cooking it plain, I wasn’t adverse to its flavor at all.  I just felt it needed that elusive “something” I seem to always seek but never find.

Tempeh remains on the “to try” list.  Sometime in the future, I’ll purchase it again.  I’ll try another recipe and see how it turns out.  Next time, I’m purchasing plain tempeh.  Honestly, the first thought that came to mind was I wanted a tomato based sauce for this, but BBQ sauce was all that I had on hand…thoughts for round 2 circulate.