Monday, April 25, 2011

Home made Tempeh (Indonesian style)


Tempeh (or we call it TEMPE) is originated from Indonesia, almost every Indonesian love and enjoy tempeh or at least have tested tempeh. Nowadays tempeh is becoming more and more popular as a meat substitute enjoys by vegetarian and some people who eat less meat.

Indonesian enjoys tempeh almost everyday, the way they cook it varies. You can simply deep fry it, stir fry with some fresh chili, you can make curry and some other soups or you can enjoy it as a snack. Basically any dishes using meat you can make it with tempeh and even more I should say because Indonesian enjoy tempeh for a snack too, like crackers *yumm*.

Being away from home I sometimes insanely craving for tempeh, since tempeh is one of the food I am growing up with along with tofu and fish. I can only get frozen tempeh from Asian market and off course it doesn't taste like the fresh one, and on the other hand the tempeh from local store is not very satisfying either.
After doing some reading and blog walking, I am pretty much sure that what makes Indonesian tempeh different from local tempeh is the yiest or the tempeh starter. Good Indonesian tempe should be white in color (but a few black spot is considered normal), nutty and has a distinctive earthy flavor, and the texture is solid firm but not as firm as locals (or I should say western style) tempeh. But I am not gonna write about that right now, you can read more details HERE.

Back to the tempeh making, I never thought that I would ever make my own tempeh, never cross in my mind until a good friend of mine told me to bring some tempeh starter when I am back to Indonesia. And I did it just for the sake, but never touch it for a long time then it got expired. Back in my mind I always think making tempeh could be really difficult and complicated. Thanks God I go back to Indonesia pretty much every other year so I had a chance to get another batch of fresh tempeh starter.
After some hesitation I finally decided to try, I watched some videos of how to make tempeh on you tube. There are some differences in making tempeh, some are peeling the soy bean before they boil it, my friend is suggesting to boil it first after couple hours of soaking, that way it would be easier to peel since we do not have beans peeler (grinding machine). Some are using vinegar when they boil it, but I did not use it and the result is great, so I do not know what is the vinegar do. Will try to use it next time though!

So here are the step by step procedure in making tempeh at home:
  • Soak the soy beans overnight and the beans should be enlarging by double size.
  • Boil the beans until cook, so it would be easy to peel.
  • Allow the soy beans to cool down (my friend suggested to let it sit overnight) then peel it completely, it is recommended to split it by squeezing it with a kneading motion. Make sure all the beans are peeled, so the starter can get trough and start the fermentation.
  • Re-boil/cook the beans again until it gets really soft, it takes couple hours. (if you doubt you can taste it and if you think it's already soft like tempeh should be, you can stop the boiling process).
  • Drain the beans and let it cool and dry.
  • Spread the starter evenly and make sure the beans are dry when you spread the starter. Mix it with a clean spoon for about 1 minute to reduces the risk for spoilage and the fermentation will be faster
  • Pack the soy bean in 1/2 lb size of plastic, the maximum of thickness is about 3 cm, then poke the plastic using a kabab skewer or clean nail. 
  • Store it in a warm dry place for up to 3 days then the tempe is ready.
  • The approximately starter used for 1 kg of soy beans is 2 - 3 table spoon. 
Here are some pictures, I am so sorry if the captures are in Bahasa Indonesia, hope the pictures speaks for itself :










And here is the result, very satisfying I must say!! I am so glad I did my trial and succeed in making tempeh. So no more buying frozen tempe from Asian market.




5 comments:

Unknown said...

waaaa,,,langsung berhasil ya bikin tempe nya...padahal dibungkusnya pake plastik ya...
kalo nenekku juga suka bikin tempe,,,tapi dibungkus pake daun pisang...

Mommalina said...

@ Riesta : makasih banyak ya komen-nya, aku jg nggak nyangka bisa langsung sukses, wah senengnya bukan kepalang .. hehehe ... BTW, disini ada daun pisang yg frozen tapi mahal dan aku nggak tau cara ngiket-nya, lebih ekonomis dan praktis pake plastic jadinya ^__^

Monike said...

Hi mbak, salam kenal :)

wahh tempe nya keren bgt!! saya lg nyoba buat tempe sendiri...percobaan pertama gatot (gagal total) ehhe, sound so easy but i failed. ngak tau salahnya dimana. Saya lg di aussie yg lg musim dingin, proses fermentationnya agak susah, kgk tau mau di taruh dimana. Mbak taruhnya deket heater? atau punya incubator sendiri?

Thanks mbak! so happy to see your tempe :)

Mommalina said...

Hi Monike,

Salam kenal lagi, makasih udah mampir ^__^
Waktu ngerebus kacang kedele yg kedua kalinya harus betul2 sampe empuk. Terus harus semua terkupas, krn kalo ada yg nggak kekupas ragi tempe-nya gag tembus untuk proses fermentasi. Terus yg penting lagi waktu naburin ragi, usahakan kedele-nya kering, bila perlu pake paper towel dilap2in dulu. Kalo pake plastik, tusuk2 plastic-nya pake tusuk sate supaya ada hawa. Itu aja sich yg penting2nya. Ayo coba lagi ... pasti sukses. Aku jg bikin yg pertama kali ini lagi musim dingin dan sukses. Aku simpan dideket heater.

Monike said...

Hi mbak :)

iya mungkin yg kemaren punya aku kurang kering and kurang empuk hehe..pengen cepet2 seh ehhehe..iya heater aku diatas mbak bukan dibawah (on floor), jd nya agak susah ehhe...aku nyoba lagi neh..hehe lagi rendem soy beans nya biar gampang di kupes ehehe..

tar aku kabarin kalo berhasil :)) makasih mbak!!

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