Think of this as your ocean-friendly filet-o-fish sandwich. Because we all know the only sustainable seafood is no seafood at all. If you’ve ever become enamoured with a Planet Earth documentary, you sure as hell have realized how brilliant fish are. I don’t want to eat something smarter than me. Anyway, back to the food at hand. Tempeh is one of my favorite plant proteins, but I know a lot of people cringe at it. Me thinks, they had undercooked and underseasoned versions. This tempeh “fish” was a John creation back in the day, and we thought it needed to become an epic sandwich. So this may be your intro into the world of tempeh, but it’s a good one. If you want to swap club soda for the beer, go ahead, but you need the fizz to make the batter nice and fluffy. I love to serve this sandwich with salt and vinegar chips and an icy cold beer!
Ingredients
- 1 brick (8 oz/225 g) tempeh
- 0.33 cup water
- 0.33 cup white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 3 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1½ teaspoons ground pepper
- 6 cups vegetable oil, for frying
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 cup cold vegan-friendly lager or ale
- 4 whole wheat, sprouted, or sesame seed buns
- The Tartar Sauce
- 2 cups packed sunflower sprouts or shredded iceberg lettuce
- 1 avocado, pitted, peeled, quartered, and sliced
- To marinate the tempeh, slice the brick of tempeh in half and slice each half lengthwise so you have 4 thin fillets.
- Combine the water, vinegar, lemon juice, 2 teaspoons of the Old Bay, and 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper in a shallow dish and submerge the tempeh fillets in the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 6 hours. Do not leave them longer than that or they may be too soft to handle without breaking.
- When you are ready to fry the tempeh, add vegetable oil to a heavy-bottomed pot or deep fryer and heat to 350°F or as high as 360°F on a deep-frying thermometer.
- To make the batter, put ¼ cup of the flour in a bowl. In another bowl, combine the remaining ¾ cup flour, remaining teaspoon salt, remaining teaspoon Old Bay seasoning, and remaining ½ teaspoon ground pepper with the baking powder and paprika. Leave out the beer until the oil is hot enough to fry.
- Take each tempeh fillet from the marinade and dredge through the flour, getting all sides well coated.
- When you’re ready to fry, gently stir the beer into the flour and spice mixture. Don’t stir too much, as you want air in the batter.
- Coat a fillet in the beer batter and put it directly into the hot oil. You’ll probably need to do 1 fillet at a time so you don’t overcrowd the pot. Cook for 2 minutes, flipping the fillet after 1 minute, until golden brown.
- Using a slotted frying spoon, remove the fried tempeh fillet to a wire rack set over a baking sheet. This will help keep the fillets crispy while you continue frying. Laying them on paper towels could make the fillets soggy. Make sure the oil is still between 350°F and 365°F before frying another fillet.
- To assemble the sandwiches, cut the buns in half and toast, if desired. Spread some tartar sauce on the bottom half of each bun, then add the sprouts, a fillet, avocado slices, and more tartar sauce on top.
- These are best consumed right after frying, but leftover fried fillets can be refrigerated and consumed within 4 to 5 days. Warm the fillets over medium-high heat in a pan or in a preheated 375°F oven. However, they might not get as crispy as when you first fried them.
