Sweet and Spicy Tempeh with Garlic Curry Noodles

5 from 12 votes

Strips of tempeh pan-fried before being cooked with a kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)-based sauce with some garlic, onion, and chili. The sauce is a delicious and fragrant blend of sweet and spicy with a delicious savoury kick. Served the tempeh with some Garlic Curry Noodles for a satisfying and really heart, protein-packed meal.

You can also opt to use tofu for this recipe, if you'd like!

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Total Time 40

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian, Indonesian

Servings

Calories 501 kcal

Ingredients

Tempeh (or Tofu!)

380 g block tempeh see notes OR
450 g extra firm tofu pressed and drained
Neutral oil for panfrying
1 small red onion diced
1 green chili , I used siling haba (see notes)
Salt to taste

Sauce

1 tsp minced garlic
5 tbsp kecap manis or sweet soy sauce, adjust to taste (see homemade recipe here)
5 tbsp water
1/8 tsp ground white pepper
1 tbsp chili sauce I used sriracha, adjust according to desired spice

Cornstarch Slurry

1/2 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp room temperature water

Garlic Curry Noodles

2 ramen bricks or bundle of wheat noodles (70g each)
2 tbsp neutral oil
2 tbsp minced garlic
4 tsp curry powder or more to taste
2 tsp kecap manis or sweet soy sauce, feel free to add more to taste (see homemade recipe here)
4 tbsp water
Salt and pepper to taste

To Finish

Chopped scallion

Instructions

Tempeh/ Tofu and Sauce

If using frozen tempeh, make sure it’s thawed at room temperature. See the notes below on other tips to prepare tempeh.
Slice the tempeh into 1/2 to 1” thick pieces.
If using tofu, press the tofu for 10 tp 15 minutes then slice it into 1" thich pieces.
Heat a large non-stick pan over medium high heat. Once hot, add some neutral oil to coat the surface of the pan. Pan-fry the tempeh/tofu until golden brown, around 3 minutes on each side.
Remove the tempeh/tofu from the pan and set aside.
While the tempeh is pan-frying, mix all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Taste the sauce and feel free to adjust to your desired taste. Note that if using store-bought kecap manis, it can be watered down so I recommend adding more if needed.
In another small bowl, mix together the cornstarch and water to create a slurry. Set aside.
In the same pan used to pan-fry the tempeh, sauté the chili and onion over high heat in the oil for 2 minutes.
Pour in the sauce and leave to simmer over medium high heat.
Once it boils, lower the heat to medium.
Give the cornstarch slurry a good mix again. While mixing, pour in the cornstarch slurry into the sauce. Lower the heat to low.
Keep mixing until the slurry is well incorporated in the sauce.
Add back in the pan-fried tempeh and leave to simmer in the sauce for 4 to 5 minutes. Turn up the heat to medium and then flip over the tempeh to coat evenly in the sauce. The sauce will start to thicken and turn into a glaze.
Once the sauce thickens, lower the heat to prevent the sauce from burning.
Cook for 2 to 3 more minutes and flip the tempeh to evenly coat in the sauce. The sauce will thicken into a glaze-like consistency. Taste the tempeh and feel free to add more kecap manis or season with some salt, to taste.
Turn off the heat then remove the tempeh from the pan.

Noodles

In a small pot of boiling water cook the noodles until chewy or according to package instructions. Remove from the water and set aside.
While the noodles are cooking, heat the same pan used for the tempeh. Add in the oil.
Sauté the garlic for 2 minutes until lightly brown.
Add in the water. The water will also help deglaze the pan.
Mix in the curry powder and kecap manis.
Mix well to dilute the curry powder. Add in the cooked noodles mix well with the curry sauce.
You can add more kecap manis and some salt and pepper, to taste, if you’d like. If the noodles are a bit dry, you can also add in a splash of water.
Turn off the heat and then serve the noodles with the tempeh.

To Serve

Top the tempeh and noodles with some chopped scallions if you’d like. Enjoy!

Notes

Tempeh:

Some tempeh brands can have a distinct smell/aftertaste due to the fermentation process. I got my tempeh fresh from an Indonesian based in Manila who makes his tempeh fresh and it didn't have that after taste and weird texture I got from other tempeh I've tried before. I'd actually usually steam my tempeh before cooking it but he told me I no longer needed to and took his advice! The tempeh turned out great and didn't have any weird aftertaste.

Though you find that your tempeh has a distinct smell/aftertaste, you can run it through some water then steam it for 15 to 20 minutes before slicing and pan-frying them.

You can also of course use extra firm tofu if you don't have access to good tempeh.

Chili:

For the chiles, I used 'siling haba' or long chiles. They're very mild in spice.

Jalapeños are similar but are much hotter. So if you'd like less heat, you can remove the seeds before sautéing.

NUTRITIONAL INFO

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