Whether you're a vegetarian or not, everyone can benefit from adding a little soy to their diet. Although there's some talk about a connection between soy and breast cancer, there's no evidence to back up the claim. Since soy products are a healthy source of protein they're a great alternative for people trying to cut back on meat and dairy products that are high in cholesterol.
Tofu and tempeh are both made from soybeans, but what's the difference between the two? Is one healthier than the other? To find out read more
Check out this chart comparing tofu and tempeh.
| Tofu | Tempeh | How it's made | By curdling fresh hot soymilk with a coagulant. | By fermenting cooked soybeans with a mold. |
| How it's sold | It comes in five inch sized blocks, and you can buy it in four varieties: silken (used for creamy dishes), soft (great for soups), firm, and extra firm (the last two are great for stir fries). It's usually packaged in water to help it stay moist. | It's sold in flat rectangular pieces about eight inches long. |
| Appearance | White, smooth, and wet. | Brownish in color and dry. You can see the whole soybeans. |
| Consistency | Soft, smooth, and spongy. | Firm and chewy. | Flavor | Has hardly any taste on its own, but when added to recipes, takes on the flavor of whatever you're making. | Has a slight earthy sweet taste. |
| Protein in 1/2 cup | 10.1g | 15.4g |
| Fiber in 1/2 cup | .5g | 3.5g |
| Calories in 1/2 cup | 97 | 160 |
Since tempeh is less processed than tofu, it's healthier in general, so that's why it has more protein and fiber than tofu. If you've never tried tempeh, you can find it at most health food stores (it's refrigerated). Start to incorporate this soy product into your recipes by crumbling it up and adding it to soups, casseroles, and your pasta sauce. It'll add a chewy consistency and some extra protein and fiber.
Maloles
Peacocks
Tomas Maier
Mmmm, I love both!
1You know, they say fermented soy products (miso, tempeh, soy sauce)dont contain any of the possible risk factors that the unfermented ones do (tofu, soy milk, a lot of stuff really). I have decided to avoid soy poducts due to the phytoestrogens (which are the iffy part). I dont know for sure either way about this issue, and man do I LOVE soy... but I have decided to err on the side of caution. Good to know tempeh is so god for you!
2Wow, I cant spell... its 8 am, thats why.
3Mmmm tempeh bacon...
4While I eat both Tofu and Tempeh, by far my favorite has become Mycoprotein products. They taste -great- and they're low in fat naturally. No soy in them either. If you want to check them out, here's the website:
http://www.quorn.us/
They offer a pretty good selection of products to choose from!
5ainje - quorn is actually a vat-grown fungus, not even similar to that of mushrooms. It has an extensive history of making people severely ill. I only tell you this in case you didn't know ... but you may want to look into it. I don't know how this stuff ever made the U.S market, but the last I heard it cannot be sold in Europe because of this reason.
6i'm so glad that this post is here today. my boyfriend made v-day reservations for us at a vegetarian restaurant since i'm a veggie and i've never had tempeh and i didn't really know what it was. i LOVE tofu though so now i have a good comparison. i think though that based on the cal content - i'll stay away from it.
7I'm picky about my tofu, probably because I'm not a vegetarian and never tried it until I was about 22. There are certain recipes that I don't like tofu in - the tofu doesn't take on enough flavor for me I guess. The one time I had tempeh though I loved it! I've found a few more recipes, but have never tried them. Now that I know how healthy it is, I'll have to make them sooner!
8I love Quorn products too. I personally have never had any problems with them but I have heard they can be hard on sensitive stomachs. I also try to avoid soy and flax because of the phytoestrogens b/c of my fibroids. There may not be that strong a connection but I want to be safe about it. Too bad cause I love tofu and flax seeds!
9i have an absolutely terrible experience with tempeh. i'm not even sure i'm willing to try it again. i should try it at a restaurant instead of cooking it again at home. i wasn't expecting it to be chewy. as i ate it (an 1/2in thick slice of it) i thought i was ingesting rubbery birdseed.
i'll give it another chance and crumble it this time!
10dunnonuttin - I hadn't heard of this happening; I haven't had any problems with it myself. It's true that it is made from fungus harvested from wherever they grow it, but it is also a naturally occuring organism, so it's not as if they're creating something unnatural.
Anyway - I'll continue eating it because it most definitely tastes better than any other meat substitutes out there. It actually makes up 60% of the meat replacement sales in the UK...
11i don't care for tempeh but knowing it is so good for me i'd try it again. i love the tofu that is pressed (not the softish kind) which is great for just about anything, even just baked with some onions and soy sauce (and ginger and garlic and a bit of sesame oil). yum!
12One of my favorite restaurants out here in San Diego is Tofu House, a Korean place whose specialty is tofu soups--they come in hot clay (stone? not sure) bowls that keep them boiling at the table, are super super flavorful, come in a huge range of spiciness and full of your choice of meats, veggies, seafood, shiitake mushrooms, etc.--they make tofu awesome.
13I made my own tempeh using bread once. You take a couple of slices of whole wheat bread and get them really wet and squish them up. Keep rinsing the bread under the water and massaging it to rinse off all the carbohydrate. What's left is the protein that's in the wheat gluten. It's a little less chewy than the soy kind, but it's cheaper.
14Spectra-
It sounds like you made seitan and not tempeh. Tempeh is made from soy beans, and seitan is made from wheat gluten. Both are so yummy, though!
15I like em both. My husband and I regularly eat General Tsao tofu or Buffalo tempeh. I prefer the rice kind of tempeh.
16I tried tempeh fish tacos...so much better than real fish tacos! I'm vegan and I'm definitely going to try to incorporate both tofu and tempeh more in my attempt to learn how to cook for myself.
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