Vegan Korean Fried Tempeh | Oil-free Air Fryer Recipe

Spicy, slightly sweet and utterly moreish, this vegan Korean fried tempeh is made in the air fryer with no added oil. It’s full of protein, lower in fat and an ideal appetiser or great served with sticky white rice and vegetables as a main course.

Have you tried air frying yet?

I’m a bit late to the air frying party, but air fryers work by circulating hot air to make your food nicely crispy. In short, they give you deep-fried food, with none of the deep frying. Win-win, right?

For most things, you only need a minimal amount of oil to get the same results as deep fat frying. Better still, some dishes can be made in an air fryer with no oil at all – like this vegan Korean fried tempeh.

To get the breadcrumbs to stick as well as possible before air frying the tempeh, I used vegan mayo and it worked a treat (shout out to Glue & Glitter for the inspiration!), but you could also use a thick chickpea flour paste made with a little bit of water.

I’ve tried a few models of air fryer and can safely say that the Actify is one of the best-known air fryers for good reason: it gets food perfectly crisp, it cooks consistently, and it’s easy to clean. It doesn’t have an adjustable temperature, instead it cooks at around 180C and you simply alter the cooking time. This seems to result in more evenly cooked food and makes it a bit easier to experiment with too!

I picked mine up from the fab range of small appliances over at JD Williams.

To make this vegan Korean fried tempeh in the Actifry, I removed the stirring arm so that none of the breadcrumbs would get knocked off and turned the pieces manually from time to time.

Vegan Korean Fried Tempeh | Oil-free Air Fryer Recipe   Save Print Prep time 10 mins Cook time 20 mins Total time 30 mins   Author: The Tofu Diaries Serves: 2-4 Ingredients

• 200g tempeh, cut into medium-sized chunks
• 2 tbsp vegan mayonnaise
• 3-4 tbsp panko breadcrumbs
• -For the sauce-
• 2 tbsp gochujang (Korean red pepper paste)
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tbsp maple or agave syrup
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1tbsp water
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• -To serve-
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1 tsp chopped fresh chives
• Chive flowers to serve (optional)

Method

1. To make the breaded tempeh, add the mayo and breadcrumbs into separate bowls. Mix a few drops of water into the mayo, if it is very thick. Coat each piece of tempeh in mayo then in breadcrumbs and place into the Actifry basket. Repeat until all pieces are evenly coated.
2. Cook in the Actifry* for around 15 minutes, turning the pieces every 4-5 minutes, until golden brown and crispy.
3. When the tempeh is almost cooked, add the sauce ingredients to a frying pan, mix to form a smooth paste and cook on a medium heat for a few minutes until slightly thickened and bubbling. Add the cubes of tempeh and stir gently until the tempeh is fully coated.
4. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and chives, then serve as a snack or with sticky white rice and vegetables of your choice.

Notes *The Actifry cooks at around 180C; set any other air fryer or oven to this temperature and adjust the cooking time accordingly. 3.5.3239

Tried this recipe? Don’t forget to share your remakes on Instagram and tag me @thetofudiariesblog.

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Thank you to JD Williams for providing the Actifry this recipe. All thoughts, words and photos are my own and no other compensation was received. Please see my disclaimer for more details.