About this Dish
Indonesia's extraordinary contribution to world food — whole soybeans fermented with a mould into a firm, nutty cake. Unlike tofu, tempeh retains the texture of the bean and gains a deep umami flavour from fermentation. Eaten fried, grilled or in curries across Indonesia.
IngredientsServes 4
🫘Dried soybeans, 500g
🧫Tempeh starter (Rhizopus oligosporus), 1 tsp
🍚White vinegar, 2 tbsp
💧Water, enough to cover beans
🧄Garlic, 4 cloves minced
🌶️Bird's eye chillies, 3 finely sliced
🧅Shallots, 4 thinly sliced
🥥Coconut oil, 3 tbsp for frying
🧂Salt, 1 tsp
🍯Kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), 2 tbsp
Method
1
Soak the dried soybeans overnight in plenty of cold water. The next day, drain and rub the beans vigorously between your hands to loosen and remove as much of the outer hull as possible, then rinse well.2
Boil the dehulled beans in fresh water for about 30 minutes until just tender but not mushy. Drain thoroughly and spread on a clean tea towel, patting completely dry — any excess moisture will ruin the fermentation.3
Allow the beans to cool to room temperature, then mix in the white vinegar and tempeh starter powder, tossing well to coat every bean evenly. Divide the mixture into two zip-lock bags or banana leaf pouches, poke small holes every 2–3cm with a skewer to allow airflow, and spread into a flat layer roughly 3cm thick.4
Place the pouches in a warm spot around 30°C, such as an oven with just the light on, for 24–48 hours. After 24 hours you should see white fluffy mycelium binding the beans together into a firm cake — it's ready when completely covered and holding its shape.5
Once your tempeh cake is ready, slice it into 1cm thick pieces. Heat coconut oil in a wok or frying pan over medium-high heat and fry the tempeh slices for 3–4 minutes each side until golden brown and crispy on the outside.6
In the same pan, sauté the shallots, garlic and chillies for 2 minutes until fragrant and softened. Return the fried tempeh to the pan, add the kecap manis and salt, and toss everything together over high heat for 1–2 minutes until the tempeh is glazed and caramelised.7
Serve hot with steamed rice. Tempeh cooked this way — known as tempe goreng kecap — is a classic Indonesian everyday dish, wonderfully savoury, slightly sweet and deeply satisfying.User Reviews
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