Non-Fry Tempeh Sandwich Cutlet

Healthy “non-fry” tempeh cutlet with vegan mayonnaise dripping – simply irresistible!

This dish came sort of spontaneously when I was wondering what I could dip into my freshly-made vegan mayonnaise. I found some leftover okara tempeh and decided to make cutlet with it. The result: super easy, healthy AND amazingly delicious!

For this dish, I used two kinds of vegetables to sandwich my tempeh with – eggplant and zucchini. Both of them are meaty in texture and have vibrant colors, perfect for a summer dish.

To slice my tempeh thinly, I sliced it into thick pieces then into thinner pieces. The overly-fermented black/gray parts can be easily peeled off.

I cut zucchini and eggplant into about the same length as the tempeh and sliced them thinly also. Ready to assemble!

When I sandwiched the tempeh with vegetables, I put very thin layers of shio-koji (can be replaced by salt).

To make it into cutlet, I coated each piece with a mixture of water and rice powder (or all-purpose wheat would also do) then fresh panko breadcrumbs.

You could proceed to frying the pieces, but since it’s a “non-fry” recipe, I sprayed the pieces with oil and banked them in oven at 200 C for 15 min (until brown).

The airy and light texture of the non-fry cutlet matched perfectly with thick and creamy mayo. I’m not sure why but the texture and taste of tempeh combined with mayo somehow made it taste cheesy! It will go really well with a glass of cold beer:)