Have you ever cooked Tempeh? I haven’t even heard of it until I started exploring a plant-based diet. Though that was about 6 months ago, I am only just getting around to cooking it now, because I always felt it wasn’t easy to cook. Today, I’m showing you that I was wrong!

During this week’s grocery visit, I felt like exploring a new type of ingredient to try and play around with. I figured why not try something that I’ve always been intimidated by cooking? I picked up a pack of tempeh to give it a shot!

This tempeh is seared in a savoury miso glaze, packed with strong summery flavours! Now I’m not too sure about how Tempeh is supposed to feel like once cooked (as I have nothing to compare it to), but I can say that I found the texture quite satisfying. That may be because I did a quick research on how to cook Tempeh, and came across this Youtube Video by Jordan Waddell. I learned that if you boil the Tempeh first, you get the texture just about right! Thanks Jordan!

With my minimal knowledge of Tempeh, I wanted to keep the recipe simple and paired with some of my favourite veggies. You know, just in case I end up making a disaster – which I didn’t! So I went with a green selection of veggies, including some freshly local AttitudeFraîche’s Baby Spinach. With a nice delicious side of baked sweet potato. I also topped off the dish with a few crunchy bits of radish (that was after I had already eaten half of the plate because I got distracted by how good it was). Oops!

Here’s what you’ll need

1. Tempeh
2. Spinach
3. Sweet Potato
4. Broccoli
5. Snap Peas
6. Radishes

You can switch up the ingredients to fit your favourite veggies. If you do, you can still follow along with the steps for cooking the Miso Glazed Tempeh. But keep in mind that the ingredients for the Spice Mix and Sauce also include the veggies I chose. So you might need to adjust the amounts on those as well.

You’ll also need:

• Cooking Spray
• Veggie Broth
• Vegan Butter (Optional)

Spice Mix & Sauce

Miso paste is a super strong Asian umami flavour that can be used in many ways – from Miso soup, to this Miso glaze. And many more!

I added soy sauce, lemon juice, maple syrup, water, and cornstarch to the miso paste. Whisking it together to combine – leaving the cornstarch to be added later, when the sauce is ready to be added to sear the Tempeh.

For the Spice Mix, I have been obsessing over the summery-feel of the lemon pepper seasoning, mixed with Italian-style seasoning. So I added some paprika, garlic, onion, and ginger powder to combine all those flavours!

Directions

Since the sweet potato will take the longest to cook, start with preheating the oven to 400 F | 205 C. In the meantime, poke the potato using a fork to form a vertical dotted line across each side. Make sure you leave about an inch from the top and the bottom. Place a parchment paper on an oven pan with cooking spray. Place the potato onto the parchment paper and bake for about 45 minutes – flipping the potato halfway. Once it is ready, cut through the dotted lines to split the potato in half.

You can find step-by-step directions for baking the potatoes and fluffing it in my Stuffed Sweet Potatoes recipe.

While the potato is baking, start with the first step of cooking the Tempeh: Boil it!

Start with cutting the Tempeh block in half to form 2 small squares. Add the squares to a sauce pan filled with 2.5 cups of veggie broth. Boil the Tempeh for about 10 minutes. Once done, remove from the broth and cut each square into 2 triangles.

Save the broth to use it later when cooking the veggies.

Break up the broccoli into bite-sized mini florets, and cut the snap peas in half. Add about 1/2 cup of the broth (used from boiling the Tempeh) to a pan over high heat. Once hot, add the snap peas and cook for about 7 minutes – stirring frequently. Add 2 Tsp of the Spice Mix and stir the snap peas for another couple of minutes. Then add the broccoli florets and cook while stirring for 5 minutes – add more broth to avoid burning. Add another 2 Tsp of the Spice Mix and stir to cook for another 5 minutes. Once cooked, remove them from heat and set aside in a bowl.

Add 1 Cup of broth into the same pan and bring it to heat. Place the Tempeh triangles in the pan and let it cook for 5 minutes. Once the sides starts browning, add the vegan butter and flip the Tempeh on the other side – coating it with the butter. Cook for another 5 minutes, until they are golden brown. Add in the Tbsp of cornstarch to the sauce bowl and whisk to dissolve. Then add the sauce over the Tempeh and quickly toss them around in the pan to cover with the glaze. Then sear each side of the Tempeh pieces for a few minutes to crisp up the edges.

You can then remove the Tempeh from the pan, add back the bowl of broccoli and snap peas to the pan. Toss them in the sauce and bring them back to heat.

By now, the sweet potato should be about ready. After you cut it in half, fluff the insides with a fork (getting real close to the skin). Season the potato with salt and pepper, and add some green onion to garnish. Build up the plate by laying the broccoli and snap peas over the spinach, to soak them in the sauce and flavours. Top off the Tempeh with sesame seeds. Finally, add some avocado to the dish, and sprinkle with a bit of chia seeds.

Enjoy your demeal!

If you have any questions about this recipe, or gave it a try, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below. Remember to rate the recipe with ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. This will help us sustain Plant Based Arab.

Snap a photo of your dish, and tag us on Instagram @PlantBasedArab, so we can see and share your remake!

Miso Glazed Tempeh

Recipe by Waseem Hijazi

Servings

2

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

45

minutes

Ingredients

• Plants

• 1 Sweet Potato

• 1 Block of Tempeh

• 1 Small Broccoli head

• 1 Cup Snap Peas

• 4 Radishes

• Bunch of Spinach

• Spice Mix

• 1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning

• 1 Tsp Lemon Pepper

• 1/2 Tsp Paprika

• 1/2 Tsp Onion Powder

• 1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder

• 1/4 Tsp Ginger Powder

• Pinch of Salt

• Sauce

• 2 Tsp Miso paste

• 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce

• 2-3 Tbsp Lemon Juice

• 2 Tsp Maple Syrup

• 2 Tbsp Water

• 1 Tbsp Cornstarch

• The Rest

• Cooking Spray

• 2.5 Cups Veggie Broth

• 1 Tbsp Vegan Butter – Optional

• 1/2 Avocado

• Green Onion to garnish

Directions

• Baked Sweet Potato
• Preheat the oven to 400 F | 205 C.
• Using a fork, poke the Potato from top to bottom to create a vertical line. Leave about an inch from each side. Repeat the same for the other side of the potato.
• Place the Potato on an oven pan with parchment paper and cooking spray. Bake for 45 minutes – Flipping halfway.
• Remove from the oven and cut in half. Then fluff it with a fork.
• Tempeh
• Cut the Tempeh in half to form 2 small squares.
• Boil the Tempeh in a sauce pan using the Veggie Broth (or Water) for 10 minutes.
• Remove the Tempeh from sauce pan and cut each in half – creating 4 triangular shapes. Set aside to cook in sauce later.
  Save the Broth to use it later in the cooking process
• Prepping
• Prepare the Spice Mix and Sauce ingredients in small separate bowls.
  Leave the Tbsp of Cornstarch aside until you are ready to add the sauce to the pan.
• Break up the Broccoli into mini florets – bite size
• Cut the Snap Peas in half.
• Cooking
• Add 1/2 Cup of the Broth (from boiled Tempeh) to a pan over high heat.
• Add in the Snap Peas to the pan and cook for 5-7 mins, stirring frequently.
• Add 2 Tsp of the Spice Mix and stir – Cook for another 3 mins.
• Add in the Broccoli to the pan and cook for 5 mins.
  Add some more Broth if needed
• Add another 2 Tsp of the Spice Mix and stir – Cook for another 5 mins. Remove and set aside.
• In the same pan, add the remaining 1 Cup of Broth – bringing it to heat.
• Coat all sides of the Tempeh pieces in the Spice Mix then add them to the pan and let it cook for 5 mins.
  Until the sides become golden brown
• Flip the Tempeh and add the Butter to the pan – Cook for another 5 mins.
• Add Cornstarch to the sauce and whisk to dissolve. Then add it to the pan and quickly toss the Tempeh to coat with the sauce. Sear on each side for a couple of mins.
• Remove the Tempeh from heat, and toss the Broccoli & Snap Pease with the leftover sauce in the pan. Then build up your plate and sprinkle with Chia & Sesame Seeds
  
  Enjoy your demeal!