Maple barbecue tempeh sandwiches with garlic cabbage slaw

September 13, 2021

   

We decided to take on a cooking project this week, and there's nothing more project-y than the recipes in Adam Sobel's Street Vegan - every recipe has about 8 components and a million ingredients. We simplified this one by dropping the beer-battered pickles, habanero mayo and marinated kale, and just focussed on the tempeh and the slaw. 

It's still a fair bit of faffing around - a couple of different sauces in the blender, pre-boiling of the tempeh and more spices than you can poke a stick at. Still: it was worth it - the sweet and smoky barbecue sauce is really wonderful, and perfect with the tangy, garlicky slaw. Definitely a sandwich that will go into our regular rotation.

Maple barbecue tempeh sandwiches with garlic cabbage slaw

(slightly adapted from a recipe in Adam Sobel's Street Vegan)

maple barbecue sauce

1 cup maple syrup

2 tablespoons treacle (the original recipe asked for molasses)

1/2 cup tomato paste

4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon liquid smoke

2 tablespoons tamari

1/2 cup olive oil

tempeh

600g tempeh

4 cups veggie stock

1/2 cup tamari

1/4 cup seeded mustard

1/4 cup olive oil

garlic cabbage slaw

10-15 garlic cloves

5 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons dried oregano

4 tablespoons maple syrup

5 tablespoons mirin

3/4 cup vegan mayonnaise

zest of 2 lemons + juice of 1

4 cups shredded cabbage

2 teaspoons caraway seeds

dill pickles, finely sliced

6 long rolls

Put all the sauce ingredients in a blender and whizz for a good minute until everything is emulsified. You can make the sauce a few days ahead of time if you need, but we did it in one hit.

Cut the two tempeh blocks into thirds and then turn them on the side and halve them - you should have 12 thin rectangles.

In a large frypan, combine the stock, mustard and half the olive oil and lay out the tempeh pieces so they're submerged. Bring to the boil over high heat and then turn the heat down, simmering for 10-15 minutes. Take the tempeh pieces out with a slotted spoon and set aside (you don't use the stock mixture again, but you can store it to use in other recipes).

Now make the slaw - preheat the oven to 180°C. Thoroughly combine the garlic cloves, olive oil and oregano in a small bowl and then pour the mix out onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Roast for 20 minutes, until the garlic is soft and golden.

Pop the roasted garlic and oil mix into a blender, with the maple syrup, mirin, mayo and lemon juice and blend them until smooth. Combine the cabbage, lemon zest and caraway seeds in a big bowl and then thoroughly mix through the garlic paste - it's easiest with your hands unfortunately.

Now finish off the tempeh - fry the pieces in the rest of the oil over high heat, for a few minutes on each side. Pour over a good splash of the bbq sauce and cook for another minute or two, turning once. 

Build your roll! A slab and a half of tempeh, a few sliced pickles, an extra drizzle of barbecue sauce and as much slaw as you can squeeze in. We got dinner and 3 lunches from this recipe - every one a delight.