Noodles with tempeh mince

This the perfect summer dish. Filling noodles with a fresh salad and a deliciously crispy tempeh mince.

I love making this dish because of its simplicity. The salad is very easy to whip up, and most attention goes to preparing the tempeh. From this dish, I also learned to steam the tempeh before cooking it which changes its flavour a bit (less intense). However, I found a hack to prepare the tempeh within 5 minutes using the microwave rather than 30 minutes with a steamer. So this is still a quick weekday dish!

I found this dish in one of my favourite cooking books Plant Power by Annie Bell. After seeing this book in store, I found it second hand online and I have been trying multiple recipes from it. I love it as the book is specifically for vegetarians and vegans and focuses on protein-rich recipes, making sure that we get all our nutrients! As always, I did adapt the recipe slightly to make it suitable for two people and to make the instructions easier to follow.

Noodles with tempeh mince

15 minutes preparation + 10 minutes cooking — serves 2 to 3

Ingredients

  • 200 gram tempeh
  • 2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
  • 200 gram dried udon noodles
  • 100 gram lambs lettuce
  • 1 avocado
  • 2 red peppers
  • 2 teaspoons red miso paste
  • 2 teaspoons sherry or apple vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons extra vierge olive oil
  • Water
  • Oil

Preparation

  1. Place the tempeh in a microwaveable dish and cover with 3 tablespoons of water. Cover off and microwave on 800W for 4-5 minutes.
  2. Carefully take the tempeh out of the microwave. Cut in quarters and lay on a flat plate to let it cool off.
  3. Boil a liter of water in a kettle.
  4. Mix the red miso paste, sherry or apple vinegar, extra vierge olive oil, and two tablespoons of water to create a dressing.
  5. Wash the lambs lettuce and mix with one tablespoon of the dressing in a large salad bowl.
  6. Cook the noodles in a large pot with the preboiled water for five minutes (longer/shorter depending on package instructions). Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
  7. Return the noodles to the pot and mix with the remainder of the dressing.
  8. Wash the red peppers and cut into small strips.
  9. Peel the avocado and cut into 1cm dice.
  10. Add the peppers and avocado to the lambs lettuce and gently mix.
  11. Heat some oil in a large pan and once hot, crumble the tempeh with your hands (make sure to wash your hands before) and add to the pan.
  12. Fry the tempeh mince for c. 5 minutes until they are golden and starting to crisp up. Add more oil if needed.
  13. Drizzle the tamari soy sauce over the tempeh, mix, and fry for another minute.
  14. Serve the noodles with the salad and the crispy tempeh mix on top.
Enjoy your meal!

Did you like this?

Leave a comment below if you made this recipe, and let me know what you think. Tips and feedback to improve the recipe are always welcome too!