These Teriyaki Tempeh Lettuce Wraps are the perfect appetiser, light lunch or snack. Find out how to make them below.
Flavour in every bite
What's not to love about food that can be eaten in one big bite. Whether you want to serve them as an appetiser, enjoy a few as a light lunch or even a snack, these Teriyaki Tempeh Lettuce Wraps are packed full of flavour.
Little gem lettuce leaves are our vehicle for flavour. They are then topped with an edamame salsa, and tempeh that has first been marinated and then topped with teriyaki sauce.
Any extra teriyaki sauce can be served on the plate for dipping! You don't want any sauce to go to waste.
Teriyaki tempeh
What is tempeh?
If you're not familiar with tempeh, think of it like tofu's cousing. Both are made with soy beans but they are processed in different ways.
Tempeh has much more texture and bite to it because of the way in which it's made. Whole soy beans are fermented which binds them together into a slab or cake like form. It's much more firm that tofu which makes it perfect for cutting up into bite size cubes.
What is teriyaki sauce?
Teriyaki is a sweet, tangy, sticky sauce that is great in just about everything. It can be stirred through stir fries, brushed over skewers or drizzle over tempeh in lettuce gem cups!
It's an easy sauce to make. Teriyaki's key ingredients are tamari (or soy sauce), ginger, mirin and sugar. This gives it a really sweet and salty flavour with a glossy shine.
Edamame Salsa
It feels strange suggesting that an Asian inspired dish should be served with a salsa but it's the best way to describe the fresh and zest edamame garnish that I serve alongside the teriyaki tempeh.
I often use frozen edamame as it's the most convenient and cheap way to buy it. When you use frozen edamame it's important to refresh it by blanching it in boiling water until hot through to the centre. You then immediately plunge it into ice cold water to make sure it doesn't cook any further and keeps it's bright green colour.
When combined with lemon, lime, garlic, ginger and coriander, it becomes this really bright and vibrant flavour bomb that complements the sweet and sticky teriyaki tempeh perfectly.
Putting it all together
Once the tempeh has been marinaded and cooked, the teriyaki sauce has cooled and the edamame garnish has been made, all that's left to do is assemble.
Take one lettuce leaf, spoon over the cooked tempeh, drizzle over some teriyaki sauce then the edamame. Finish off with a sprinkling of sesame seeds and some coriander.
It's that simple.
The recipe
Teriyaki Tempeh Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients
For the tempeh
- 200 g tempeh
- 10 g ginger minced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 4 tablespoon soy sauce
- 4 tablespoon mirin
- 1 red chilli finely diced
- 1 teaspoon caster sugar
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil
- Vegetable oil to fry the tempeh
For the teriyaki sauce
- 115 ml tamari
- 50 g brown sugar
- 1.5 teaspoons ginger minced
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 3 tablespoons mirin
- 3 tablespoon cornstarch
- 60 ml water
For the edamame garnish
- 100 g edamame frozen or fresh, podded
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 10 g ginger minced
- 1 bunch coriander
- 30 g sesame seeds toasted
For the lettuce wraps
- 2 little gem lettuces leaves separated
Instructions
To marinade the tempeh
- Combine the ginger, garlic and chilli with the rest of the marinade ingredients.
- Cut the tempeh into small, 2cm x 2cm pieces then add the tempeh to the marinade.
- Let it marinade for 20 minutes (or 2 hours if possible).
To make the teriyaki sauce
- Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 4 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let cool.
To make the edamame garnish
- Blanch the edamam beans in boiling water until then immediately plunge into ice cold water.
- Chop the coriander stalks into a fine dice, keeping the leaves to garnish the finished dish.
- Once cool, drain, dry and chop the edamame beans and place in a bowl.
- Toss the ginger, garlic, coriander stalks and edamame in a bowl along with the lemon and lime juice, oil and salt and place to one side.
To cook the tempeh
- Place a pan on medium heat and add the oil.
- Cook the tempeh slowly (avoiding burning the sugars in the marinade) until hot.
To assemble
- Take one single lettuce leaf and use it like a cup to hold one spoon of the edamame beans, tempeh and a drizzle of teriyaki sauce.
- Finish with sesame seeds and coriander leaves.
- Repeat until all of the lettuce leaves and fillings have been used.
Nutrition
More simple snacks
Each of these snacks is inspired by the flavours of Asia. Which will you enjoy first?
More Chinese recipes
For the full range of recipes inspired by Chinese cuisine, check out my Chinese recipe archive.
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