I have a confession to make: although I’ve been a vegetarian for five years, and an enthusiastic cook for most of that time, tempeh has always eluded me. 
 
Don’t get me wrong; I’m aware of its virtues.  Like tofu, tempeh is a soy-based product sometimes used in place of meat.  Unlike tofu, it’s basically a fermented soybean cake.  It is far less processed, to the point where you can see the individual soybeans.  Since this approach preserves more of the original fiber and protein, tempeh is considerably more nutritious.  Unfortunately, while botched tofu is generally just bland and squishy, botched tempeh tastes like a granola bar made out of soap. 
 
I chose this assignment because I’d suspected that a correctly-executed tempeh recipe would be worlds better than my sad, bitter attempts of the past.  Luckily, this proved true.