Marinades are so underutilized in vegan cooking.
I believe something should be marinating in your fridge at all times! It’s such an effortless way of creating really flavorful meat substitutes to add to your dishes.
Tempeh is my favorite faux-meat to marinate. It’s quite porous and naturally absorbs the flavors of any sauce it’s sitting in. I cut a block of tempeh into four rectangles and boil it for about 10 mins. This is an optional step that enhances the flavor of the final result.
Once boiled and drained, I place the pieces into a reusable baggie. I find placing marinated foods in more flexible containers like bags instead of sturdy containers like tupperware get the marinade on more surface area of tempeh.
I let it sit in the marinade overnight and maybe even 24 hours if I want the flavors to be really enhanced. When fully seasoned,
If you remove the boiling step, this same method can be used on firm tofu and mushrooms.
When the marinating period is complete I do reuse it to season another batch within 24 hours of removing the first batch. In my experience, these marinades can keep in the fridge for up to 14 days and can be reused a few times within that timeframe.
Below are a two of my favorite marinade recipes.
Mushroom Marinade