I thought this was mine and P’s first time trying tempeh but he reminded me we had it Bali. I remembered it straight away, we had hired a car and we were exploring the island. It was lunchtime so we looked out for a restaurant. Nestled amongst the rice paddy fields was a restaurant that had a lovely pond in the center with koi and the tables themselves were low with cushions to sit on. In traditional style we took our shoes off before sitting down and we had tempeh cakes as part of an Indonesian platter. We didn’t quite have the same experience back home but this tempeh salad evoked those wonderful memories. I read online steaming the tempeh first makes it easier to handle and it helps soak up the marinade. It worked a treat and it worked perfectly with the fresh salad the miso aubergine enhanced the flavour rather than clashing. I can’t wait to try it again with a satay sauce like we had in Bali.

Ingredients

Tempeh

• 1 block of tempeh, sliced
• 4 tbsp of teriyaki sauce
• Juice of 1/2 time
• Cooking spray

Salad

• 1/2 bag of salad leaves
• Small bunch of basil, leaves only roughly chopped
• Small bunch of coriander, finely chopped
• Small tin or defrosted sweet corn
• 1 large carrot, grated
• 2 salad red peppers, deveined and thinly sliced
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 tbsp light soya sauce
• 1 tbsp ginger, finely chopped

Aubergine

• 2 aubergine, cut into cubes
• 2 tbsp cooking oil, I used rapeseed
• 2 tbsp white miso paste
• 1 tbsp cooking oil, I used rapeseed
• 1 tbsp hot water

Directions

1. Pre heat air fryer or oven to 190 degrees (fan). Put the aubergine in a bowl with 2 tbsp of oil, season and mix so all the pieces are coated. Spread out and Cook for 20 mins until slightly soft. Put the rest of the ingredients into a bowl. Coat the cooked aubergine in the miso mixture and bake for a further 10 mins until golden and caramelised. Set aside.
2. Fill a wok with about an inch of water. Place the tempeh in a steaming basket and steam for 10 mins. Place the teriyaki and lime juice in a shallow dish. Add the tempeh and marinade for at least an hour I kept turning mine every 10 minutes. Once ready to cook. Het oven or air fryer to 180 degrees fan. Spray the tempeh slices with cooking spray and cook for 15 minutes
3. Assemble the salad by adding all the ingredients to a bowl along with leftover teriyaki marinade. Add the cooked aubergine and mix to combine.
4. Share the salad between 2 bowls and top with tempeh cakes. Enjoy