Sweet Spicy Tempeh Mushrooms With Plant-Based Butter

Sweet and spicy taste to serve tempeh and mushrooms at the next level. Adding plant-based butter also creates a delicious savory taste.

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I often see on other social media that many people complain about the disgusting taste of tempeh. I can't say that they are wrong. In my opinion, the taste of tempeh is also influenced by the type of soy beans and how it is made.

Traditional things have an important role in the process of making tempeh. So, tempeh other than Indonesia may have an unpleasant taste. Plus, there are many local spices that must be paired with tempeh to produce the best taste of tempeh.

In Indonesia, the best seasoning for tempeh always comes from sweet soy sauce. Again, the type of soybean plays an important role in making delicious sweet soy sauce. The best one of sweet soy sauce taste will have umami taste (a balanced combination of sweet and savory).

So, it will be very tricky if you cook tempeh or tofu as well. As a suggestion, you can buy tempeh and seasoning as well at a shop specializing in Asian products. That would be better. :)

I will also add plant-based butter (margarine) to add a more savory taste. This is the first time I added margarine to a tempeh recipe and it turned out well. :)

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Also, in tempeh recipes spicy flavors are more often used. In this recipe, I use chili powder. Don't worry, you can skip this chili powder and replace it with half a teaspoon of ground pepper.

I just bought chili powder for less $1 which turns out to be super crazy spicy. Just one teaspoon makes me feel too spicy :D well, this is good news because it can save money. As I write this blog, 1 kg of red chili has reached $6. when it's cheap, the price of chilies per kg is only half that. This is because growing chilies is never easy. There are many pests that attack chili plants. So, it requires a lot of maintenance which is expensive.

Well, I hope you like your recipe this time which might add new knowledge about tempeh and the perfect seasoning for tempeh :). stay tuned.

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The Ingredients

• 200 grams of tofu, cut into small cubes
• 150 grams of mushrooms
• 100 grams of green veggies, pak choy, or broccoli

Seasoning

• 2 tablespoons of vegan butter (margarine)
• 5 small cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 5 small cloves of red onion, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons of sweet soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• a thumb-size of ginger, flattened
• 2 dried bay leaves
• (optional) 1 teaspoon red chili powder

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Cooking Instructions

STEP 1

Prepare the green vegetables that will be used. Here, I'm just going to steam veggies. So, first, here I remove the bottom part of the bok choy, and then I open the stems one by one which look dirty.

Then, wash with running water. Then, arrange them in a steamer.

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STEP 2

Steam the vegetables for 5-10 minutes until the vegetables are cooked. Depends on the type of vegetables used. Pakcoy only takes 5 minutes, while broccoli takes 10 minutes.

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STEP 3

While the green veggies are being steamed, we cook the tempeh. Prepare tempeh and mushrooms. Cut the tempeh into small squares.

For mushrooms, here I only remove the bottom root part of the mushrooms. I don't cut them anymore into small pieces, because they are already "easy to bite" in size.

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STEP 4

Heat the cooking pan. Then, add margarine. Followed by adding chopped garlic, red onion, flattened ginger, and dried bay leaves. Stir-fry them in low heat until they are caramelized, about 2 minutes.

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STEP 5

Add sweet soy sauce, chili powder, pepper powder, also salt. Mix and stir well for 1 minute.

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STEP 6

Add tempeh and mushrooms. Stir well. Don't add water because the mushrooms will release themselves when cooked. Cook with a lid on the pan over medium low heat for about 5 minutes. Then, remove and serve with steamed green veggies and rice.

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Serving Ways

Serve these tempeh and mushrooms side dishes with steamed green vegetables and also rice. I rolled steamed pak choy for plating.

Honestly, this is the next level of cooking tempeh. It feels really spicy! With the sweet taste of sweet soy sauce, it is the perfect flavor pairing for tempeh.

My husband and I laughed together, full of gratitude. Because we are grateful that we can eat spicy food even though the price of chilies is rising drastically! So, until next on my kitchen stories. :)

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Thank you for reading my blog and reblog if you want my blog this time worthy of reading by others.

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Best Regards,
Anggrek Lestari

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