Orange Pan-glazed Tempeh

Hi Jennifer, I too was once troubled by tempeh's less-than-fresh appearance, so I turned to the massive tome Passionate Vegetarian by the unforgetable Crescent Dragonwagon. She writes that the spots that look like mold in your tempeh reflect how the stuff is made: by culturing soybeans with a mold called Rhizopus oligosporus. The process similar to how milk is cultured into yogurt by the enlisting the aid of bacteria. Now that's not to say you were eating "moldy" food. Your average American tempeh looks like a cobblestone path: brown spots along with a few darker ones, suspended in a white or slightly grey cake. The brown "stones" are bits of soy; the "cement" is the cake that forms from the culturing process. The darker spots are also part of the culturing, but you only want to see a few of those. Very spotty tempeh is on its way to spoilage. That lighter tempeh you found was less fermented than the darker stuff, probably with a milder flavor. A note on tempeh - since it is formed from a mold, it's not to be eaten raw like tofu. Tempeh recipes, like this gem, include a marinating step followed by baking, stir-frying, sauteing, and other cooking methods. I almost always boil a block of tempeh as my first step - it lightens the texture and makes it easier to cook and digest (and Kate, that will lessen the bitterness!). I likely will when I try this recipe! But some people like the firm, meaty texture and full flavor. Finally, like with any food preserved by refrigeration, follow your nose! If you're tempeh (or soy milk or yogurt or cream...) is bad, you will smell it into next week. Good luck, and here's to your culinary adventurousness!

The cookbook looks beautiful. Lucky you, getting a call and then a visit from the cook herself! -JJ

I love tempeh but I always seem to make the same dish with it. This is just the recipe I needed to change this silly habit of mine. Thanks Heidi and Jude!

I love everything about this recipe! The flavors sound spectacular, and the method is so easy--perfect. I've got a block of tempeh in the freezer that was made for this.

Thanks so much for this recipe, I'd love to try it but I'm not sure about using mirin. I don't want to use anything with alcohol, could you please recommend a substitute? Thanks!

I'm going to join the other commenters in saying that I've never cooked tempeh before but this looks great.

Heidi, I love your recipes and have been a fan for over a year. This one sounds like a winner. I have tempeh in the fridge and am going to try it tonight. Many thanks!

i literally just finished leftovers for lunch of the maple grilled tempeh featured last july. though it's hard to imagine topping that recipe, i can hardly wait to try the citrus twist presented here. thank you for making tempeh so yummilicious.

Hello Heidi, The name Jude Blereau sounded immediately familiar to me, too... as I've got Coming Home to Eat! I found it and got my copy on Amazon.co.uk but also saw it at the book section in Whole Foods store in London's South Kensington. I, too, have never cooked tempeh myself... I think I've seen it at some natural food store in Tokyo, but I might give it a try with tofu (over brown rice or maybe even farro or barley). Thanks! :)

I tried this recipe out today and did not find that the Tempeh was bitter at all! Actually, it was quite delicious and used up the two packages of lightlife organic tempeh I had stored in the fridge for the past months! Thanks!

Wow, another tempeh recipe :). I love your TLT one and I'm sure this is equally good. I "vegetarianized" a dish that an aunt of mine made while growing up by using tempeh and it seemed quite successful. Perhaps I can share with you once I have the recipe actually written down. I don't think a bit of this and a splash of that would work very well :).

I love Jude Blereau's Wholefood-- her recipes and attitude toward food and cooking are inspiring. I especially appreciate the care she takes in preparing grains (the porridge section got us through the winter last year, as we were tired of oatmeal by January!). I've never tried tempeh, and after the mold discussion, I'll probably pass on it for a while longer! But this recipe and the picture are definitely tempting! Thanks for the heads-up on the new wholefood book. :-)

Thanks Heidi and Jess for the guidance! I am looking forward to trying this!

Heidi, who wouldn't want to sit down over croissant with you?!

Is there a substitute for Mirin?

Heidi, do you ever steam the tempeh first, before marinating and frying? I've only recently started doing this, per Deborah Madison's advice, and have found that not only is the tempeh less bitter according to my kids (I never mind bitter), but also it slightly increases in volume, and certainly the texture improves, so that it seems to go farther and be more satisfying. Or perhaps you have access to better tempeh than I?

I have cooked tempeh before and found it bitter ... this sounds like a perfect remedy! Thanks and LOVE the site :)

I had never cooked with tempeh until I attempted your TLT sandwich which was excellent and has become a family favorite (even with the non-vegetarians who request it all the time)! I love the way this dish looks and am anxious to try it - but I have a question about tempeh. When I opened my first tempeh package (months before the expiration date) it looked like it might have become moldy. Since I had no idea what it should look like I bought another package of the same brand which had a lighter color, so I threw the first package away to be safe. Since then I have opened a number of packages that have looked questionable, which makes me wonder if there is a normal color variation in tempeh or if I just happened to get a number of bad packages? Can you tell me how the tempeh should look so I don't throw away perfectly good tempeh? Thanks! HS: Hi Jennifer, see the comments Jess made below, she is an earlier riser than I am ;) But in short, a bit of bloom is no big deal, I usually see it around the corners. If it bothers you just trim it.

I also have never cooked with tempeh but you have inspired me! I'm actually a Wellingtonian and have come across Jude's books before, so I will be looking out for her new one. I'm an avid reader of your blog and I'd like to thank you for your absolutely beautiful recipes! I also send deferred thanks from friends, coworkers, family and my boyfriend - the main samplers of my cooking. You really are a chef to admire and I hope that you are able to visit this part of the world again soon. Jo

I have never used tempeh before, but this recipe may spur me into expanding my culinary repertoire! I love any savory dish with citrus flavours in it, and this sounds very flavourful indeed. Thanks Heidi, your recipes always inspire me to try new things. :)