Dried
The Blackened Tempeh was dehydrated for approximately four hours and then ground into a powder. This powder was mixed with vegetable oil and sugar to create a paste with a texture comparable to chocolate paste.
Notes and Observations
- Before cooking, the paste is chocolatey and distinctly mushroom-like, less fruity than the plain blackened tempeh. It leaves a strong, unique mushroom aftertaste.
- The aroma is reminiscent of porcini mushrooms or a rich mushroom broth.
- When cooked with a small amount of water, fat, and sugar, the paste develops an intense chocolate flavor with a subtle mushroom funk.
Ideas
- This could be interesting mixed into milk or ice cream, which might mellow the funk while retaining the rich, chocolatey, and nutty notes.
- Further blending with a fat like cocoa butter could improve the texture.
- In the future, it would be interesting to experiment with different substrates for the tempeh before blackening it.
Roasted
- The roasted version was not successful. It had a bitter and unpleasant mushroom flavor.