Tempeh Mock Crab Cakes - The Veggie Table

Delectable "crab" cakes made with tempeh and served with sherry sauce.

Yield	4 servings
Time	1 hour, plus soaking time
Tools	several bowls wooden spoon whisk wax paper cookie sheet frying pan
Ingredients	12 oz tempeh 1-2 c water 1 t kombu + ½ t salt OR 1½ t salt 1¾ c bread crumbs 1 stalk celery, minced 2 scallions, minced ½ carrot, minced 2 t parsley, chopped ¼ c mayonnaise or tofu mayonnaise 4 cloves garlic, minced ¼ t sherry vinegar 2 t lemon juice 1 t Worcestershire sauce ¼ t dry mustard 1/8 t hot pepper sauce 1/8 t pepper 1 t oil
Directions	Place tempeh in bowl and pour enough water to cover on top, plus kombu or 1 t salt. Let soak at least 2 hours (preferably overnight). Crumble tempeh and mix with ¼ c bread crumbs, celery, scallions, carrot, and parsley. Place remaining bread crumbs in a shallow bowl. In a third bowl, whisk together everything else except oil, then stir into the tempeh. Place wax paper on cookie sheet. Form tempeh mixture into smallish, ½-inch thick patties. Dip in bread crumbs, then place on wax paper. Refrigerate 30 min to 2 hours. Heat oil in pan over medium heat. Fry "crab" cakes until golden brown (about 3 minutes), turn, and repeat. Serve immediately with sherry sauce and lemon wedges.
Notes	Adapted from The Meat Lover’s Vegetarian Cookbook, by Steven Ferry and Tanya Petrovna. The authors claim that these mock crab cakes are better than the real thing at The Four Seasons in New York – you be the judge. Buy it: Amazon.com \| Amazon.co.uk
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