Another episode of “Will it smoke?”. I don’t know if it was the Cheez-Its, maybe the Pumpkin Seeds, or maybe just talking with some friends – I said I should’ve named this site, “Will it smoke”. I enjoy the pork butts and briskets, but I also like the unusual. And for me, this is definitely unusual.
Tempeh are cooked soybeans that are fermented and pressed into a firm, dry loaf or cake or patty of varying firmness. It is the fermentation that gives the soybeans in tempeh a nutty, earthy flavor and chewy texture.
Tempeh can be grilled, baked, stir-fried, or crumbled like ground meat and used in sandwiches or tacos.
Allrecipes.com
Doesn’t at all sound appetizing, I get it. But I’ll point out a couple things that was written there. First, smoking tempeh isn’t mentioned at all – challenge accepted. Second, nutty earthy flavor – I’m interested. Lastly, tacos. Not related at all, but anything tacos grabs my attention.
MrsForensicBBQ was crucial in completing this dish – really tied it together and made it pop. Let’s go!
The Prep Table
Okay, this looks pretty awful. Looks like the worst Rice Krispie treat I’ve ever seen. Didn’t have any kind of odor, was just an off-white dry.. thing. No way I could just throw this in the smoker and pray to the gods that some leftover bacon grease would rise from the grates and make this edible. I try not to do boring, so let’s put some perfume on this pig.
Not entirely sure how well a compressed soy bean cake (laughing as I typed that) would take on flavor. We’re gonna try it though. This made me appreciate meat products – the complexity, lean vs. fat, different cuts, etc. This was a dense bean brick. Let’s make it not so brick-like, more surface area for that marinade to touch and hope it seeps in there.
Cutting it into strips seemed logical, and I could maybe pretend it was bacon. It wouldn’t be small enough to crumble away, but still gave me enough edges for flavor to hit. Normally I’d normally go with sweet and heat, but not today. MrsForensicBBQ will be surprised that I used chili powder (not a spicy fan), but we’re going more natural here. Little bit of brown sugar and some vinegar/salt.
Went with 3Tbsp/1Tbsp for Soy/Rice Vinegar, another Tbsp of that brown sugar and a couple pinches of garlic powder. I put such a small amount of chili powder in here – I shouldn’t even mention it – the wife wants absolutely nothing to do with spice.
The Process
We had this marinading for two days. I like to do overnights as a general rule, but we just weren’t ready to tackle this recipe the day we planned. So the next day, when I pulled this bag out of the fridge – the marinade was completely gone. It wasn’t milky white anymore, so that was good! We’re making progress.
I joked around about grabbing some bacon flavor from the grates – but because I’m cooking for the wife today – an unused jerky grate was utilized. Obviously, space it out – let that smoke surround the food.
Kinda looks like chicken tenders at this point. When the description said it can crumble – it definitely can. You can see I broke a piece or two just taking it out of the marinade bag, so handle your soy sticks with care. Let’s go for 225 and check on them after every half hour.
Some pretty significant color was gained from the smoke. I think I just went with a competition blend of pellets for this one. They describe it as a blend of maple, hickory, and cherry – but I always use it as a safe (not overpowering) wood. When I saw those small pieces in the upper right starting to really darken, I knew it was time — these took just over an hour.
The Result
MrsForensicBBQ saved the day for sure. She had the rice blend made, the veggies steamed and saut̩ed Рand Рcooked perfectly! She did a hell of a job, and I ate it up.
Except the mushrooms.
I told her to plate it for the site, and so she did. Pretty good, right? Most importantly, she enjoyed the meal. She actually liked the tempeh too! Big win.
As a carnivore – however – I was not a big fan. I can do it once and awhile, but this won’t be showing up any time soon on any menu of mine. The tempeh was so dry – I needed to try something with it. I put some hoisin sauce in a dish but that didn’t really work either.
I’ll still push that the veggies were the big sell for this one. I had to try the tempeh – I have a block of tofu in the fridge too to try that. Just not yet after this experiment. My veggie wife liked the dish, so I’ll still chalk this up as a success.
So there was another unusual “BBQ” post from me. I hope you enjoy these ones – I like to try new, and this was definitely new. I’m typing this one up after making and eating a GREAT (aka meat) dish, so be on the lookout for that one. We’ll get back to a normal for a bit, but know that tofu is going to rear its ugly head at some point!
Thanks y’all, see you on the next one.
The Recipe
Smoked Tempeh
Ingredients
- 1 8oz Brick of Tempeh
- 3 Tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
- 1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
- 1/2 Tsp Chili Powder
- 1 Tsp Garlic Powder
Instructions
Tempeh
- Cut the tempeh into strips
- Combine (Soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, chili powder, garlic powder) into a ziploc bag. Add tempeh strips to marinade overnight.
- Preheat smoker for 200f
- Place marinated tempeh onto frogmat/jerky rack – smoke for 1-2 hours flipping halfway through.
- Remove and serve! Put it on a bed of rice/quinoa, serve with vegetables!
Any more of this vegan garbage and you’ll lose a loyal follower
Hey! If he doesn’t keep up the vegan garbage he’ll lose a wife!
I agree with this Dunn fella. I thought I was reading a review for one of them restaurants in Portland or something. After reading this, I went out and chopped wood, chewed tobacco, and drank a Budweiser just to clear my mind.