Before I get started with another simple tempeh dish I want to make a few notes about ingredients and equipment. In my recipes I state what I use and what I prefer, but always adjust to your own tastes and what you have on hand. The idea is that is is EASY. Don’t go out of your way to buy specific things if you have something similar in the house. If I use rice syrup in a recipe, you can replace it with maple syrup, barley malt, honey, molasses or whatever you have around. Yes, it may taste a bit different, but chances are it will still taste good (the molasses will be the most different). So don’t fret about it. If I say cast iron, use whatever you’ve got. My main point is, be creative with what you have in your kitchen. I make up the dishes I cook as I go along. If it’s good, I share the recipe here. But that doesn’t mean it’s the only way to make it taste good.
That being said, here’s the recipe:
Sauerkraut Tempeh
- 1# Rhapsody Tempeh
- 2 to 4 cups sauerkraut (locally made or homemade is best)
- soy sauce (optional)
- frying oil
So, first deep fry the tempeh either in strips (for sandwiches) or cubes (for salads or on it’s own). For directions on how to deep fry check out my Teriyaki Tempeh recipe. Place the deep fried tempeh in a cast iron pot and cover with the sauerkraut. The more sauerkraut liquid, the better. Add water so that there is about half an inch of liquid on the bottom of the pan. Place a lid on the pot and bring to a boil. Give it a good and gentle stir and then cook with the lid on for about 5 minutes. Remove the lid and taste the tempeh. Add a little bit of soysauce to taste if desired. Be careful as sauerkraut contains a lot of salt already. Continue to simmer stirring frequently until the liquid is gone. All done! I said this one was easy.
Note: The sauerkraut I used in the above photo was homemade with onions and carrots in it. Tastes just like sauerkraut!
To make it even easier, steam the tempeh for 15 minutes and then gently saute it in the cast iron pan. It won’t be quite as rich and may crumble a little but is still very tasty on a lazy day!
Enjoy!
See my Air Frying tempeh entry, More oil when it’s cool to freezing but less when it is warm to hot
Hi
I am presenting 2 simple and easy to follow recipes one for Tempeh Fry Prep and the other called Tempeh and Vegetables in Coconut Milk.
if you want to read about what I know about tempeh, what I have learned about Rhapsody’s tempeh and why it is so good for us, where I have gotten the original recipes that I modified a little and where to easily get of of the ingredients please visit my new weblog called Tempeh Tempeh Tempeh! with the post New Ways to Control Your Tempeh https://tempehtempehtempeh.blogspot.com/2022/07/new-ways-to-control-your-tempeh.html where I am planning on writing more posts on controlling our tempeh in the future.
So here are the promised 2 recipes:
I altered the recipe slightly to make it easier to follow using Chef Sato Saturo’s recipe format:
(Key: *=organic
t = teaspoon
T = Tablespoon
C = Cup
Water is best natural spring, artisian well, or filtered)
Tempeh Fry Prep
Amount of servings 3
Ingredients
Dry
8 oz package of *tempeh
Wet
6 Tablespoons *Safflower or *Sunflower oil
Equipment
sharp: Japanese vegetable, chef, or paring knife
large cast iron pan w/ or w/o lid
medium size bowl
tongs
spatula
double sheet paper towel (optional)
range
Directions
1. Slice tempeh into 30-60 equal sized pieces or 16 equal sized short fingers slicing the tempeh width-wise
2. Heat pan to high add the oil then turn down to medium or medium low.
3. Fill the pan to cover all the flat surface with tempeh pieces
4. After one side of tempeh pieces turn golden brown flip to fry the other side.
5. If necessary add a little more oil.
6. When done either place all the pieces on a towel, add rest of the ingredients to the pan (or pot) in proper sequential steps per recipe, or baking dish with the rest of the ingredients before placing in the oven .
AND:
Tempeh and Vegetables in Coconut Milk
Serves 3
Ingredients
2 T *sesame oil
1/2 lb (8oz) *tempeh cut into pieces
1/2 t *cumin
1/2 t *coriander
1 to 2 C *coconut milk
1 small *yellow onion sliced moons thin
1 1/2 T *kuzu or *arrowroot thickener dissolved in 1/4 C water
2 – 3 t *shoyu or sea salt to taste
1 t *rice vinegar
( this recipe ratio 2 T *coconut cream to 3/4 c water or 5 t *coconut cream to 2 cups water to make coconut milk)
(optional 4 *small vegetables zucchini, yellow squash, bell pepper, & carrot plus chili pepper or tumeric, and scallions garnish from this recipe)
Equipment
large cast iron skillet with lid
cups for tempeh, kuzu, coconut milk
cover for pot
tongs for tempeh
wood spoon for stirring
blender
gas stove
Directions
1. Heat oil in pot
2. saute tempeh pieces both sides till golden
3. add spices, stir for 1 minute then
4. add coconut milk
5. lower flame and simmer
6. add vegetables to simmering tempeh.
7. cover
8. stir vegetable(s) occasionally
9. when vegetables are tender, add thickener, vinegar,
shoyu (or sea salt)
10. after 3 minutes turn off & serve
Note: if using the same pan or pot that the tempeh was fried in that it is still in, then the sesame oil is unnecessary!
If you are having difficulty finding any of the ingredients you can find many of the via my Glossary Of Macrobiotic Food Terms
Thank you, very much.
R. Bruce Paine