Tempeh and Noodles

The tempeh has been in the fridge for over a week while Raul mulls how best to deal with the impulse buy. The weather remains rainy and cool so he decides to make noodles in an Asian style. A bit of googling and he is ready to tackle the tempeh.

The marinated tofu is supposedly somewhat tasteless so must be marinated. Raul chops the tofu into quarter inch squares and immerses them in a marinade of soya sauce, hoisin sauce, a bit of brown sugar and a squirt of garlic paste. He lets it soak for 20 minutes and then fries until browned on both sides.

At the same time the noodles are boiling for seven minutes then strained and splashed with sesame oil so that they won't stick together when stir fried. Green onions, carrots (pre-microwaved for three minutes) and green beans are stir fried into the leftover marinade and stir fried for three minutes. The noodles and tempah are mixed in and the entire mixture is covered and left to steam for five minutes. While plating he stirs in copious chopped coriander, mint and basil. 

"I'm not sure of the texture," says Raul of his first bite of tempeh.

"It's not like meat," agrees Drew. "More sort of grainy. But it doesn't have to have a meat texture. I like it."

The abundance of herbs gives each bite a slightly different flavour and all of them are good so Raul comes around. However he does insist that next time he will use less tempeh or perhaps add another protein like shrimp. Drew just decides to up the texture quotient and sprinkles crunchy cashews on his portion. Perfection.