Ingredient

Tempeh

Tempeh is whole soya beans bound into a firm cake by a mould that grows through them, knitting them together with a dense white mycelium. It comes from Indonesia, it is a completely different food from tofu, and the difference that matters in a kitchen is that tempeh already tastes of something.

What it is

Soya beans are soaked, dehulled, part-cooked and acidified, then inoculated with a Rhizopus mould and left warm for a day or so. The mould grows through the mass of beans, and the white mycelium it produces binds them into a sliceable cake firm enough to stand up to a knife and a hot pan.

Unlike almost every other soya product, the beans stay whole. You can see them in the cut face. That is the visual test for tempeh and it is why the texture is chewy and substantial rather than soft.

The fermentation does two useful things beyond binding. It breaks down some of the proteins and complex sugars in the raw bean, which makes the flavour savoury and the food easier to digest than plain cooked soya. And it generates aroma compounds — nutty, mushroomy, faintly like a young cheese — that raw soya has none of.

Tempeh against tofu

They are both made from soya beans and there the resemblance stops.

What it is made from

Tempeh: whole beans, fermented. Tofu: soya milk, curdled and pressed, not fermented at all.

Texture

Tempeh is firm, dense and chewy with visible bean structure. Tofu ranges from silken and custardy to firm and spongy, and is always smooth.

Flavour

Tempeh is nutty, savoury and slightly bitter — it tastes of itself. Tofu is close to neutral and takes on what you give it.

In the pan

Tempeh holds together almost unconditionally and browns readily. Tofu needs pressing, careful handling and a properly hot surface, and firm tofu is the only kind that will take a hard fry.

How to use the difference

Choose tofu when you want the seasoning to be the flavour. Choose tempeh when you want the protein itself to contribute one.

How to cook it well

The commonest complaint about tempeh is bitterness, and the commonest cause is skipping the first step.

1. Steam or simmer the block for ten minutes or so before doing anything else. This mellows the bitterness noticeably and opens the cake up so it absorbs a marinade instead of repelling it. It is the single most worthwhile thing you can do to tempeh.
2. Pat it dry, then slice it — thin slabs, batons or cubes. Thin is better than thick: more surface, more browning, more marinade contact.
3. Marinate it if you want to. Soy, tamari, garlic, ginger, maple, lime and chilli are the usual directions, and after steaming it takes them properly. Twenty minutes does real work.
4. Fry it in a decent amount of oil over a solid medium-high heat until the outside is genuinely brown and crisp. Tempeh is porous and will drink oil, and being mean with the oil is why it turns out dry.
5. Add any sugary glaze at the very end, off the direct heat, and let it reduce onto the surface rather than burn under it.

What to do with it

• Fried in slabs and put in a sandwich, in a bowl with rice, or beside a sharp salad. The default and the best.
• Crumbled and fried hard as a savoury, mince-like base for a ragù, a taco filling or a chilli. The texture is closer to mince than any other plant protein.
• In a stir-fry, added after the aromatics and given time to brown before anything wet goes in.
• Braised in coconut milk and spice, which is close to how it is often eaten in Indonesia and plays to its ability to hold shape in liquid.
• Cut thin and deep-fried into crisps, salted while hot.
• Marinated and grilled or barbecued. It does not fall through the bars, which is more than can be said for most alternatives.

Buying, storing and reading the surface

Tempeh is sold chilled or frozen, usually vacuum-packed in blocks. Frozen is fine and thaws without damage.

The white mycelium should be dense and even. Black or grey patches, especially around the edges and where the block has been in contact with the packaging, are normal — they are the mould sporulating, and Indonesian tempeh is often deliberately aged to that point for a stronger flavour. This alarms people constantly and it is not a fault.

What is a fault: pink, yellow or blue growth, a slimy wet surface, or a smell that is ammoniac or putrid rather than nutty and mushroomy. Those mean something other than the intended mould has taken hold, and the block goes in the bin.

Once opened, keep it wrapped in the fridge and use it within a few days, or freeze it.

Common questions