Tempeh Satay with Peanut Dipping Sauce

One of my favorite things to do when I’m playing around in the kitchen is to recreate dishes that I’ve had while dining out at restaurants. Restaurants featuring world cuisine are among my favorite places when I’m seeking out new dishes for my kitchen experiments, and the more unusual and exotic, the better. Surprisingly, some of the most seemingly exotic and unusual dishes are some of the simplest. That would be the case for both the satay and peanut sauce components of this recipe.

It was a long time ago that I first tried tempeh satay with peanut sauce, but I distinctly remember thinking it was so amazing and flavorful I’d never be able to recreate it on my own. The name “satay” even sounds crazy and exotic, like it couldn’t possibly mean something as simple as food on a stick.

Food on a stick is exactly what it is though! Okay, food soaked in a super flavorful marinade, then stuck on a stick and cooked, but still pretty simple if you ask me. It’s the marinade that makes it taste out of this world, and even that involves little more than throwing a bunch of ingredients into your food processor. Lemongrass, ginger, shallots and garlic all contribute to the super flavor punch that this satay packs, and happily, these are all ingredients you can get at most supermarkets. Lemongrass is probably the most unusual of the ingredients, but you should be able to find some stalks stashed away in the produce section of most stores, and if not, check the ethnic foods aisle for jarred lemongrass or the spice aisle for dried.

Oh, then there’s the peanut sauce component of this recipe, which is made from all ingredients that are pretty much guaranteed to be in the supermarket, if not already in your pantry.

Traditional satay is cooked on a grill, but since we’re still in April, that may or may not be an option, depending on the weather where you live. If you find yourself wanting to make these on a nice and toasty day, feel free to bust out the outdoor grill. If not, stick with an indoor grill or your oven. Whichever option you take, they’ll be delicious.

Ingredients

For the Tempeh Satay:

1 (4-inch) lemongrass stalk

2 shallots, peeled

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1 (2-inch) piece of fresh ginger (about thumb size), peeled

1/4 cup lime juice

2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari

1 tablespoon grapeseed oil (or any neutral flavor cooking oil)

1 tablespoon agave or maple syrup

1 teaspoon Asian chili paste or 1 Thai chili, stemmed and seeded (optional)

1 teaspoon ground coriander seed

1 (8-ounce) package tempeh, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 small red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces

4-6 skewers

For the Peanut Dipping Sauce:

1/4 cup creamy natural peanut butter

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoon agave or maple syrup

1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce or tamari

1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger

About 2 tablespoons water

Instructions

To Make the Tempeh Satay:

If you're using wooden skewers, place them in a shallow dish and cover with water for at least 30 minutes.

Slice the lemongrass stalk open lengthwise and remove the tough outer layers, retaining the light colored inner stalk. Cut the inner stalk into 1-inch pieces and place it in a food processor bowl with the shallots, garlic, ginger, lime juice, soy sauce or tamari, oil, agave or maple syrup, chili paste or Thai chili and coriander. Blend to a relatively smooth consistency (some small chunks will remain).

Place the tempeh cubes in a shallow dish. Pour the lemongrass marinade over the tempeh and toss to coat. Marinate for at least 30 minutes at room temperature, or in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours, tossing occasionally to distribute marinade.

Skewer the tempeh cubes, alternating with red pepper pieces, placing 5-7 pieces of each on a skewer. Reserve any excess marinade.

Preheat oven to 400ºF and lightly coat a baking sheet with oil. Arrange the skewers on the baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes, turning about half way through and brushing with reserved marinade. After 12 minutes, switch the to broil and move the baking sheet to a location under broiler. Broil for about 3 minutes, watching closely to prevent burning, until the tempeh and peppers are lightly charred in spots.

To Make the Peanut Dipping Sauce:

Whisk the peanut butter, lime juice, agave or maple syrup, soy sauce or tamari and ginger together in a small bowl. Add water, a bit at a time, until the desired consistency is reached.

Notes

The tempeh satay can also be cooked on an indoor or outdoor grill. Oil the grill lightly and cook over medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes, until lightly charred, flipping halfway through.

Source : http://ohmyveggies.com/

Recipe by Alissa

Should I Eat Tempeh?

by : Mandy Oaklander @mandyoaklander

4/5 experts say yes.

Tempeh goes back ages in Indonesia, its birthplace, but the nutty, mushroomy plant protein is fairly foreign in the U.S. to all but the most hardcore of vegans. Still, most of our experts say tempeh is well worth trying.

But first: what is it? Tempeh is a cake of partially cooked whole soybeans aged overnight in an incubator at a tropical temperature, explains vegan food manufacturer Tofurky on its website. During incubation, a “thick, white mat of mycelia”—a kind of fungus—branches over the tempeh, which binds the beans together. It’s then steamed and ready to eat. Other types of tempeh can be made with barley, flax, oats, brown rice and other grains.

Tempeh is mainly used as a meat substitute, and it stands up well to the real thing structurally and nutritionally. A standard 3-ounce serving of tempeh has about 16 grams of protein, while an equal serving of grilled steak has about 26 grams. Plus, tempeh comes with about 8% of the recommended daily amount of both calcium and iron. It’s great for the nutrients it adds to your diet, says David Katz, MD, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center, and for the meat it subtracts.

“If you’re looking to cut meat from your diet but are fearful that protein will be cut along with it, tempeh is a no-brainer substitution,” says Kristin Kirkpatrick, RD, manager of wellness nutrition services at Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute. So agrees the author of a 2015 review on the rise of veganism. “Tempeh is a popular source of plant-based protein for vegans due to its versatility, great earthy flavor, and overall nutritional value,” says review author Cynthia Radnitz, PhD, professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. (Her favorite tempeh dish: steamed, mashed and mixed with chopped celery and scallions, plus eggless mayo and lemon juice for a mock chicken salad.)

“Tempeh offers all the health benefits of soy without the drawbacks of more processed soy,” she says. Some soy processing involves hexane, a chemical solvent sometimes used to extract oil from soy in processed products that aren’t organic. By buying organic, you can avoid both hexane and genetically modified ingredients, if that is a concern for you. GMOs are ubiquitous in soy; 94% of soy in the U.S. is genetically modified.

Many experts believe that whole-food forms of soy are beneficial to the body. In a 2015 study by Robert Sorge, PhD, assistant professor in the department of psychology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Sorge and his team looked at how certain foods can activate immune cells that spur inflammation in the body and other foods that have anti-inflammatory effects on those cells. Soy proteins, like those found in tempeh, seem to fall into the second group, he found. “Tempeh is a soy product with a decent amount of the isoflavone genistein,” he says. “Genistein is known to have anti-inflammatory and even anti-tumor effects and can be very good for general health, provided too much is not eaten.”

Fermenting whole soy makes it extra special, Radnitz says, by helping nutrients like calcium, zinc and iron become more available for the body to use. According to a thesis on tempeh made from barley, the fermented kind had 2.5 times the iron of unfermented barley. (Unfortunately, though, not everything you do to tempeh gives it a health boost. One Malaysian study found that battered and deep-fried tempeh had about half the isoflavones as raw tempeh.)

Even though it has many fans among these experts, not everyone is aboard the tempeh train. Tempeh is for uninspired vegans, declares Frédéric Leroy of the Research Group of Industrial Microbiology and Food Biotechnology in Belgium. His 2014 review of fermented foods concluded that there’s not enough quality evidence to make functional health claims for most fermented foods on the market. “Outside Asia, this idiosyncratic food is culturally irrelevant to most, and will seem odd to the average palate,” he says. “Granted, it contains isoflavones, but scientific evidence in support of true in vivo“—meaning in people—”health benefits of tempeh is far from being solid.”

Leroy is firmly in the more-research-is-needed camp. But for now, says Kirkpatrick, who cooks it several times a week it, “I’m in love with tempeh.”

Refresher Course : How To Make and Cooking TEMPEH

Salmonella Outbreak Linked To Tempeh

We have received many concern from our readers and customers asking about the Salmonella Outbreak in North Carolina in May 2012. 

YES, we admit that the Salmonella Paratyphi B from the tempeh starter has caused the outbreak. But we noticed that starter may contanimated or so called unpasteurized tempeh.

From our experience, cleanliness is the main issue. Handling food production for more than six years, cleanliness is the most important criteria that we look into at all times.

It can happen to anyone and we hope that all of us can avoid such incident by keep the production clean and tidy.

Here are some news and articles related to Salmonella outbreak :

1. Salmonella Outbreak Linked To Unpasteurized Tempeh Sickens 60

2. Tempeh Salmonella Cases Increase From 46 to 60

3. Starter for tempeh tied to salmonella outbreak

4. Smiling Hara Tempeh Salmonella Outbreak (video)

Tempeh Super BBQ Burger

Ingredients

• 1 package organic tempeh
• 1/4 cup onions, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup zucchini, grated
• 1 broccoli stock, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup brown rice or spelt flour
• 2 Tbs arrowroot starch
• 2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 Tbs dried basil
• 1 Tbs dried oregano
• 2 Tbs dried parsley
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of sea salt
• 1 egg or egg substitute (1 Tbs ground chia + 1/4 cup warm water)

Instructions

1. Cut tempeh up into cubes and toss into a food processor and process until into small pieces, or finely chop.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together ground tempeh, onion, zucchini, broccoli stock, brown rice, arrowroot starch, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, basil, oregano, parsley, baking powder, sea salt and egg or egg substitute.
3. Mix with a fork until it starts to come together, and is evenly mixed.
4. Take about 1/3 cup mixture, roll into a ball and then flatten into a patty.
5. Either cook on a 350-400 BBQ or in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes, flipping halfway through. Remove once lightely browned and firm to the touch.
6. Serve on a bun, wrapped in lettuce and serve it.

Crockpot Cantonese Tempeh

Ingredients

2 (8 ounce) packages tempeh

1 medium onion , sliced

1 green bell pepper , sliced

1 red bell peppers or 1 yellow bell pepper , sliced

16 ounces mixed mushrooms , sliced

2 large carrots , julienned

2 (15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes

1 (3 ounce) can tomato paste

2 cups vegetable broth

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons vinegar

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce , vegan variety

3 tablespoons cornstarch

3 tablespoons water

What To Do
1. Mix all ingredients, EXCEPT cornstarch and water, together in crockpot.


2. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.


3. Dissolve cornstarch in water and stir into crockpot to thicken sauce into a glaze. (You may find that you  need a little more or a little less cornstarch to achieve the desired thickness).


4. Cover and cook another 20 minutes or until sauce thickens.


5. Serve over rice.

What Tempeh Can Be

 Tempeh Kebab

 Grilled tempeh

 Milky Tempeh Soup

Fresh Tempeh Salad 

 Spicy Fried Tempeh

 Tempeh with Vegetables

Tempeh Nugget 

 Tempeh Satay

Tempeh Lasagna

Burger

Sandwich

Pizza

There are many other healthy meals you can make using tempeh.