Sesame-Ginger Tempeh With Ramen.

(First of all, I apologize for the lack of photos tonight -- I was having a devil of a time with the lighting!)

Well, this proved to be an interesting meal indeed!

You know when, sometimes, you grab a drink of clear liquid, thinking all the while it’s water, and it turns out to be Sprite? Not a bad taste – just not what you expect?

That’s sort of the way tonight’s meal went.

I suppose I should have tasted the Tofurky sesame-ginger tempeh prior to cooking it and mixing it with ramen and peanut sauce. But I was chatting with LeeLee, and dodging a meowing cat who was begging for dinner a full two hours early … and I had a firm grasp of what I expected the tempeh to taste like. In my imagination, of course.

So imagine my surprise when it tasted totally different! Again, not bad – just very different.

The tempeh was much more tart than I expected, more acidic – I suppose I should’ve guessed that by the “ginger” part of the “sesame-ginger” description, but I didn’t, and my taste buds were so surprised when they encountered said tartness. But once I got used to it, it wasn’t a bad taste – just surprising at first. To me, the sesame-ginger version of the tempeh wasn’t quite as good as last night’s lemon-pepper, but I think I’ll buy it again.

I will say that the pairing with the ramen and peanut sauce was not my finest culinary hour. I think a protein like this would be much better off amid a stir-fry, over white or brown rice. Oh, well – something to try next time around!

The stats:

Sesame-Ginger Tempeh: FREE!
Ramen (two packages): $0.67 ($0.34/person)
Peanut sauce: $2.50 ($0.63/person)

GRAND TOTAL: $3.17 … or $0.97 per person.

:)