Tempeh Bites with Herbs ‒ Yrttiset tempehpalat

Highly glutamic tastes tend to divide opinions. Even people who do love them have usually needed to get themselves accustomed to them. I didn't. As a kid I used to eat a mixture of MSG and salt straight from a spice jar. The first time I took a bite of this thing called tempeh ‒ which I had heard so many people find disgusting ‒ I instantly fell in love. This moldy chunk of soy beans is rather expensive in Finland and only found in special stores so we eat it rarely, usually just sliced and fried without any extra spices. This time I thought I'd see some extra trouble to see if it can be made even better. At least these finger-size taste consortiums should crown any fine dinner.

Bites:
- 300 g tempeh
- chili powder
- onion powder
- smoked paprika
- salt
- 1 tablespoon rape oil

Filling:
- 100 g fresh cheese type of soy spread (or cashew cream or hefu)
- 1 punch of fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon apple wine (or birch bud schnapps)
- birch buds (or rosemary)
- dragon's wort

Chop the parsley. Mix it and the other herbs with the spread and the wine. Refrigerate for couple of hours, allowing the mixture to juice up.

Cut the tempeh into thin slices. Fry from both sides with the oil and the spices. Spread a thick layer of the filling on them and pile up so they resemble small sandwiches. Enjoy with some milder sidekicks, for example barley and veggies.

Nutritional values / 504 g:
energy 1045 kcal
fat 75 g
protein 65 g
carbohydrates 45 g
fiber 1 g