Tempeh Crab Cakes

For a brunch party with some friends, I made these tempeh crab cakes. I've had tofu ones before at restaurants and made them from The Conscious Cook as well. I wanted to kind of change it up with tempeh. I admit, I don't often cook with tempeh. It's definitely something that has grown on me with time. If you have any great recipes with tempeh, send them over my way as I'd love to explore more recipes. My friend Emily blogged about our brunch over at her blog, Running On Vegan. Check it out!

Tempeh Crab Cakes

* Prep Time: 20-25 minutes
* Cook Time: 10-15 minutes
* Ingredients:

• 1 package (8 oz.) tempeh, finely chopped*
• 1/2 small yellow onion, finely chopped 
• 1/2 cup yellow and red bell peppers, finely chopped
• 1 green onion, finely chopped 
• 1 medium carrot, finely chopped
• 1 small celery stalk, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup lobster and oyster mushrooms, finely chopped*
• 5 tbsp vegan mayonnaise*
• 1/2 medium lemon, juiced
• 1/4 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce*
• 1 "egg" replacer, follow box instructions*
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tbsp Old Bay seasoning*
• 1/2 tsp dried mustard
• dash of cayenne, to taste
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 sheet nori, toasted, crumbled*
• 1/3 cup round crackers (like Ritz), crushed
• all-purpose flour, to dust
• peanut oil, to fry

* Recipe:

1. In a very large bowl, mix the tempeh with all the vegetables. Add in the condiments and spices. Mix well.
2. Over a burner, toast a sheet of nori on each side. Crumble into the bowl. Add the crackers. Mix contents well.
3. Heat a large skillet with peanut oil over medium heat.
4. On the counter, dust with flour. Form the crab cake mixture into medium sized balls. Flatten a bit and coat the entire crab cake in flour.
5. Fry on each side until completely golden.
6. Serve with vegan tartar sauce or horseradish sauce and coleslaw.

* Note: For tempeh, I used Lightlife Organic Garden Veggie Tempeh. I used dehydrated lobster and oyster mushrooms for this (rehydrated them for the recipe), but if you could find fresh ones, that would be best. For vegan mayonnaise, I used Earth Balance Olive Oil Mayo. Auntie's Naturals Organic Vegan Worcestershire Sauce is what I used in this recipe. I used Ener-G for my egg replacement. Old Bay seasoning is a seafood spice mix that is sometimes used in things like crab cakes. You can find it in your regular grocery store with the spices. Lastly, nori is the seaweed used to make sushi rolls. You can find it with Asian and Japanese products at your grocery store. 


For vegan tartar sauce or horseradish sauce, Follow Your Heart just came out with jars of both. If you can find them, I recommend the horseradish one. I really enjoy it! I also have a lemon dill tartar sauce recipe here on Vegan Miss.The coleslaw is a recipe of mine from when I made California Reuben Sandwiches a little bit ago.