I love Chinese food just as much as the next person. Unfortunately, my options for eating Chinese food at a restaurant or for picking up take-out after a long day of work are much smaller than they were when I ate meat. Do not get me wrong. Many Chinese restaurants offer vegetarian and vegan options. However, those options are almost always strictly centered around veggies or they contain tofu. I love my tofu. But for some reason I do not love it in Chinese food.
So what is a girl to do? Why, make one of my favorite Chinese dishes with my favorite meat alternative: tempeh!
Sweet and Sour Tempeh
Serves 2
Ingredients
2 TB seasoned rice vinegar
2 TB Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (or low-sodium soy sauce)
2 TB ketchup
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp brown sugar
8 oz can pineapple chunks in natural juices, drained with juices reserved
olive oil cooking spray
1 8 oz package tempeh, cubed
water, for cooking
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1/4 yellow or white onion, sliced
1 TB cornstarch + 2-3 TB cold water, mixed well
cooked rice, optional
Directions
1. Combine vinegar, Aminos, ketchup, ginger, brown sugar, and the juices from the pineapple in a medium bowl. Whisk until well combined. Set aside.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, spray with cooking spray and add tempeh. Cook the tempeh for approximately 15 minutes- lightly browning each side for about 4 minutes.
3. While the tempeh is cooking, line another skillet with a thin layer of water. Heat over medium-high heat until very hot. Once hot, lower the heat to medium and add the peppers and onions. Cook for approximately 6-8 minutes, or until softened. Add additional water, as necessary.
4. Once the pepper and onion mixture is cooked through, lower the heat to medium-low and add the sauce. Stir in the cornstarch + water mixture. Simmer for approximately 3 to 5 minutes, or until thickened to your liking. Add additional corn starch, if necessary.
5. Add the tempeh and pineapple chunks to the pan. Cook for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, or until cooked through.
Serve your Sweet and Sour Tempeh by itself, as I did, or over rice.
Growing up, I used to think that sweet and sour sauce was gross. Silly me. This stuff is so good. A little bit sweet. A little bit sour. And a whole lot of deliciousness.
And if you think this recipe sounds good, make sure you check out my recipe for vegan Sweet and Sour Meatball Subs. The sweetness (pun intended) of this sauce just keeps on giving and giving…
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For some strange, magical reason, one of the Chinese restaurants in this small town serves a seitan-like fake meat they make in house and it’s amazing. I’ve learned, however, that many Chinese restaurants use chicken broth when making most if not all of their sauces, so if I stray from my usual restaurant, I often end up with just a place of steamed veggies. Sweet and sour chicken was a favorite of 7-year old, meat eating Kelly and I haven’t really ventured back to sweet and sour since — so this sounds like something I just have to try! For nostalgia’s sake.
Eating out at Chinese restaurants honestly scares me because of all of the things that chicken broth and fish sauce are snuck into. Maybe that is why I prefer to stick with P.F. Chang’s where everything is marked 🙂
I really need to bite the bullet and start cooking with tempeh. And tofu. I love Chinese food and loved sweet and sour sauce as kid. I miss the boneless spareribs the most from the Chinese menu!
Yes, you definitely should!! I think tempeh is the tastiest of the meat-free alternatives out there, but that just may be my preference.
Yum, I’ve never tried tempeh. What I often don’t like about meat alternatives is the texture. That is why I just can’t do tofu. This looks great though so I may have to give it a try!
I LOVE tempeh. I find the texture MUCH more pleasing than tofu, so you should definitely give it a shot!
I’ve actually never had tempeh… I wonder if I could trick my brother into eating this. He loves sweet and sour chicken.
Ooo you should totally try it!! I’m not sure if you could trick him since the texture is definitely different, but he just may find that he LIKES it!
This dish looks so wonderful Hannah! I’ve always been a big fan of the sweet and sour flavor and Chinese food in general.
Thank you, Holly!! I cannot believe it took me so long to like sweet and sour sauce! I must have been crazy back in the day 😉
That looks very tasty! I used to cook with tofu all the time but got out of the habit but just might have to get back into it.
Thanks!
You definitely should! Both tofu and tempeh are fantastic!
YUM!! Sweet and sour is one of my favorite Chinese food flavors and I am thinking it is most definitely awesome with tempeh! Thanks for making a semi-healthy Chinese food recipe – they’re not very common or easy to find 🙂
They are pretty tough to find, aren’t they?? Tempeh is definitely officially SUPER good in Chinese food!
Tempeh is a food I’ve never tried before… which is such a shame because I’ve seen so many delicious recipes containing it. I’m heading to check out your meatball recipe now.
Have a lovely day, Hannah.
Oh you really must give tempeh a try! I love it…even more than tofu!!
This looks so good! I love tofu, but have never tried tempeh! I’ll have to give it a try 🙂
Ooo…do it!! You just may like it even more than tofu!
Mmmm this looks perfect! I haven’t had tempeh in forever! Love the addition of pineapple for extra sweetness. NOMNOM.
Pineapple is a MUST in this one! I love it 🙂