Tempeh Satay

First real post!

Here's the Tempeh Satay (page 40) served over a bed of rice and stirfried napa cabbage and bok choy (stirfried with garlic & soy sauce). I chose this as my first recipe because we had all the ingredients on hand (we are super low on groceries) and because it's been a long time since I have had satay anything.

The recipe was super easy to throw together and utilises ingredients that many of us already have on hand. The marinade was delicious blend of ingredients that all complimented each other perfectly. I also loved the addition of coconut milk to smooth it all out. Now on to the satay sauce. It was a perfectly well balanced mixture of spicy, salty, sweet, tangy and creamy. Obviously if you don't like spicy, cut down the chili and if you like spicier, double it. Both mixtures were fantastic and I had to refrain from dipping into them while I was preparing the rest of our dinner.

I followed the recipe as written but with two exceptions. I simmered the tempeh slices for only 5 minutes since usually (for me at least) 5 minutes is enough. Also I didn't have shallots on hand so I used an appropriate amount of onions. Both changes worked just fine.

For soy sauce, my preferred type is Japanese soy sauce (e.g., Kikkoman). I almost always default to that in dishes unless I need sweet soy sauce or if I'm cooking Chinese food. Then I'll use a combination of dark Chinese soy sauce and light Chinese soy sauce. Soy sauces can taste so different from each other (compare Chinese and Japanese soy sauces) so use whatever you prefer.

Oh, I should also mention what chili paste I used. One thing I'm never sure about is what type of chili paste/sauce to use in recipes. If you've ever been to an asian grocery store, you'll know that there are shelves full of red spicy sauces and many of them taste different. Anyway, the sauce I decided to use was the Vietnamese chili/garlic sauce pictured here. I tend to use that in any sort of Thai or Vietnamese dish and it worked perfectly here. The chili sauce provided just enough kick — not too much and not too little. Spiciness of course will depend on what chili paste/sauce you use.

The dish as a whole was exactly like how I remembered and definitely tasted authentic. Perfectly balanced and delicious. Not sure if you can tell by the photo but I thought the marinade was so yummy that I also drizzled some on after drizzling on the satay sauce. Both the marinade and sauce would work perfectly for other applications (e.g., seitan, tofu, vegetables, noodles, etc.)

Oh and what did the boy (also known as the Mr.) think? Well, he hates (or thinks he hates) anything with coconut milk in it so I didn't mention it. He loved it! Even after I told him there was coconut milk, he said, "I don't care, it's really good!" A comment like that from him, someone who really isn't a foodie, is awesome. He also cleaned off his plate (a full recipe's worth since I doubled the recipe) and promptly slipped into a food coma.

This dish is definitely going on our regular rotation. If you like tempeh and satay, try it!

ETA: Forgot to mention that I did not skewer and grill over a real grill since I don't have one. I simply grilled it, without skewers, on an indoor electric grill.

— Ms. Veganorama