I was hoping someone could give me some advice about marinating
tofu and tempeh. It seems that tofu sucks up soy sauce pretty
quickly, wheras tempeh does not. What should a good marinade
for these substances include? I would prefer to avoid ingredients
like sugar that will burn onto the frying pan too badly.

--
Please reply to: | "If more of us valued food and cheer and
pciszek at panix dot org | song above hoarded gold, it would be a
Autoreply is disabled | merrier world." --Thorin Oakenshield

The best marinades for tofu include strong flavors and especially
something acid like vinegar or lemon juice. I used to use tomato paste,
tamari, cider vinegar, garlic, ginger and ground spices like cumin and
curry powder. (That's not an exact recipe. I'm not suggesting that you
use all those ingredients at once, just giving an idea of the sorts of
flavors I'd use.)

I don't care for tempeh and don't have much advice there. Where tofu is
mild and soaks up any strong flavor, tempeh has such a distinctive taste
that it doesn't compliment very much very well. I'd be interested in
others' input here, but in the mean time, I'd say to try herbs like
tarragon and sage.

--Lia


Paul Ciszek wrote:
> I was hoping someone could give me some advice about marinating
> tofu and tempeh. It seems that tofu sucks up soy sauce pretty
> quickly, wheras tempeh does not. What should a good marinade
> for these substances include? I would prefer to avoid ingredients
> like sugar that will burn onto the frying pan too badly.
>
> --

"Julia Altshuler" > wrote in message
news:wMDDb.564278$Tr4.1533791@attbi_s03...
> The best marinades for tofu include strong flavors and especially
> something acid like vinegar or lemon juice. I used to use tomato paste,
> tamari, cider vinegar, garlic, ginger and ground spices like cumin and
> curry powder. (That's not an exact recipe. I'm not suggesting that you
> use all those ingredients at once, just giving an idea of the sorts of
> flavors I'd use.)

I'd agree with all of this. Additionally, I like using hot peppers in tofu
marinades.

> I don't care for tempeh and don't have much advice there. Where tofu is
> mild and soaks up any strong flavor, tempeh has such a distinctive taste
> that it doesn't compliment very much very well. I'd be interested in
> others' input here, but in the mean time, I'd say to try herbs like
> tarragon and sage.

I think you can use the same marinades with tempeh as you can with tofu.
Yes, tempeh has a more distinctive taste but I don't agree that it doesn't
compliment other foods well. Sometimes I use it as a meat substutute,
crumbled in things like chili or in lasagna. It's used a lot in Thai dishes,
so try spicy marinades like curry, peanut sauce, soy sauce, or even
something with coconut. Tempeh is good in stir fry with assorted vegetables.

I recently tried this recipe: Sweet and sour tempeh (see
http://www.tempeh.info)
The taste of tempeh blended very well with other ingredients.

Ingredients

250 g tempeh, cut in 2 cm cubes
1 cup vegetable stock
3 Tbs tamari, or shoyu
2 Tbs oil
1 can pineapple chunks (400 g)
2 green peppers, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 Tbs honey
2 Tbs cornstarch
1/4 cup vinegar

Directions

Add tempeh and tamari to the vegetable stock and cook for 10 minutes.

Drain tempeh, reserving liquid for sauce. Heat a skillet and bake
tempeh in the oil until lightly browned.

Drain the pineapple chunks, adding the liquid to the sauce.

Cook the green pepper and onion in a bit of water during 3 minutes and
drain.

Combine the liquid from tempeh and pineapple juice into a measuring
cup and add enough water to make 2 cups. Bring to boil. Stir in the
honey. Dissolve the cornstarch in the vinegar and pour it into the
sauce while stirring vigorously. Cook until thickened and bubbly. Then
add peppers, onion, pineapple and tempeh. Serve with hot rice.

Julia Altshuler wrote in message ...
>
>I don't care for tempeh and don't have much advice there. Where tofu is
>mild and soaks up any strong flavor, tempeh has such a distinctive taste
>that it doesn't compliment very much very well. I'd be interested in
>others' input here, but in the mean time, I'd say to try herbs like
>tarragon and sage.
>

i like fresh thyme and soy sauce for tempeh, but i dont really marinate it
much, just let it sit in a bowl on the counter for a few minutes while i
make a salad or chop veggies. oh, and garlic, lots of garlic


--
Saerah

TANSTAAFL


" I think the burden is on those people who think he didn't have
weapons
of mass destruction to tell the world where they are."
Ari Fleischer
7/9/2003

Julia Altshuler > wrote in message news:<wMDDb.564278$Tr4.1533791@attbi_s03>...

>
> Paul Ciszek wrote:
> > I was hoping someone could give me some advice about marinating
> > tofu and tempeh. It seems that tofu sucks up soy sauce pretty
> > quickly, wheras tempeh does not. What should a good marinade
> > for these substances include? I would prefer to avoid ingredients
> > like sugar that will burn onto the frying pan too badly.
> >
> > --


Piggybacking...

Post your question at alt.food.vegan. Mr. Falafel has a myriad of
recipes and is eager to help. If you Google there, you will find
them, as well. Personally, I think tofu and soy sauce is a recipe for
salty disaster. I always include a little olive or other oil in my
tofu marinades to retard the absorption of the salt in whatever
marinade I use.

-L.