tempeh vs. seitan

Helloooo veg-heads! I have dabbled in all sorts of food'isms' over the years and now am an omni-vore in moderation (i.e. I eat whatever my body seems to really crave and what makes it, and ME, feel good both physically, morally, and mentally, haha- not Too specific) but anyway, recently my friend and I went to a vegan restaurant.While there, we noticed many dishes with tempeh and seitan- as well as various tofu options. Sooo, here's the question:

Do you have a preference between tempeh and seitan? What's the difference in their nutritional profile? How would you compare taste? Does one leave you more full than the other? ease of preparation? etc?

Basically I got something with seitan and she ordered a tempeh dish and while they were both amazing, I'm just not sure which I'd rather buy and try in some recipes of my own...

hey there! to me, seitan is better in dishes that call for gravies, soups and stews - it's very chewy. When I want a veggie alternative to sausage I usually go for flavored seitans. I think tempeh can be good, but it's a little too dry for my tastes, the only time I ever liked it was in a vegan pasta dish with tree nuts (so good, but oily). I stir fry tempeh and it usually taste a bit sour without sauce or something to accompany it.

http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/item/85067.h tml <== typical for seitan

http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/item/85064.h tml <== typical nutr. stats. for tempeh

According to cc, tempeh has more calories per serving than seitan, but more fiber.

I fill up fast on water so I dunno how well I can answer that question, but I prefer seitan more than tempeh, even though I eat both. I think the way I prepare the seitan with the dish (like in a stew) fills me up more because tempeh to me doesn't stand up to long cooking times like seitan does.

Woah, I'm rambling.

Hope this helps!

Seitan! And no, it's not as evil as it sounds, hahah! It has a lot more protein for the calories than tempeh, and it's a lot less dry. I usually buy both, but I'd have seitan every day if I could. It's a great meat substitute, and you can make your own at home with wheat gluten and shape it into cutlets, "ribs", "chikn' wings", etc.

OMG, I made spaghetti with seiten meatballs one time and it was to die for!  I have had tempeh many different ways, and each time I didn't like it.  I just can't get my taste buds around tempeh.  But I LOVE seiten. 

tempeh has a very fun texture. the flavor can be a bit bitter at times, but it's one of those dishes i can eat by itself (with, like, some hot sauce or barbecue sauce or something). seitan i like to combine into, say, one-pot meals with other foods. the flavor of seitan (especially if you make it yourself) is to die for, but the texture might leave a little to be desired on occasion.

Seitan is the king of my heart.  It's really versatile and worth the time it takes to make it from scratch.  I am fairly certain that tempeh is more nutritionally dense (more protein and iron for sure), and I do love tempeh, but it's just not quite the star that seitan is.

Seitan, however, is very very time consuming to make.  One of my favorite recipes comes from Millenium's vegan cookbook, and it makes a dead-on Italian sausage stand in.  It requires lots of kneading, resting, rolling into cheesecloth, long braising, and then a good long smoke on the grill.  Okay, it doesn't require all of those things, but they all make a huge difference.  I've also done seitan/tofu mixed tofurkey from scratch (Bryanna's recipe), and it's WONDERFUL.  I've even adapted Alton Brown's gyro recipe into seitan gyros.

Tempeh is quicker.  A 10 minute boil will rid it of that earthy bitterness that can overpower other flavors in the recipe, then it can be used in a lot of different ways. I tend to pair it with marinades and sauces that will make the most of its earthy sharpness, like chile-beer marinades (then cooked in cast iron for GREAT taco filling), tomato sauces, and spicy bbq sauce.

If I had to choose one for you to "buy" already prepared, I'd choose tempeh. Seitan is really only magical if you put the time in and learn how to make your own.