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Tempe are small, soft, fermented bean cakes that have a yeasty, mushroom-like flavour and smell.
It is mostly made from fermented yellow soybeans, but it can be made from other legumes (such as wing beans, pigeon beans or velvet beans), or grains. Tempe made from soybean is considered the best quality.
The soybeans are cooked and cooled, then a starter culture is added to them, and the mixture is packed into banana leaves. It is then allowed to mature like a cheese. White mould grows all over and through the beans. One of the main micro-organisms at work is "Rhizopus oligosporus."
Though Tempe is normally considered Japanese, it's also very popular in Indonesia, where it is one of the top two fermented foods (the other being their version of soy sauce called "kecap".) Indonesians consume all that they produce, and don't export any. It is particularly popular with the Javanese (sic, not Japanese) in Indonesia. Tempe made in Malang, East Java has a particularly good reputation with gourmets.
Many Indonesians consume it as "tempe goreng" -- deep-fried, and flavoured with coriander, garlic and salt. "Petchel tempe" is chunks of Tempe simmered in coconut milk. It is also made into crispy chips.
"Tempe Bongkrek" has been banned in Indonesia, as there are hundreds of documented deaths from eating it. It is made from coconut after it's been pressed for oil. The problem is, it can be contaminated with a bacteria, "Pseudomonas", that grows in the coconut as it ferments, and produces a toxin called "Bongkrek acid" that interferes with the human respiratory system.
Nutrition
There are many health benefits ascribed to Tempe.
It can be particularly important to vegetarians, as it contains Vitamin B12, normally only available in animal products.
History
Tempe has been made in Indonesia since at least the 1700s.
Other entries for Soybeans
Black Soybeans, Edamame, Soy Bran, Soy Milk, Tempe, Textured Vegetable Protein, Tofu
Other entries for Beans
Adzuki Beans, Anasazi Beans, Apache Beans, Appaloosa Beans, Aramis Beans, Aunt Emma's Beans, Baccicia Beans, Baked Beans, Bayo Beans (Louisiana), Black Beans, Black Nightfall Beans, Bleu du Lac St-Jean Beans, Broad Beans, Brown Rice Beans, Bush Beans, Canary Beans, Chana Dal, Chickashaw Beans, Chickpeas, Chinese Long Bean, Cow-Itch Beans, Cowpeas, Cranberry Beans, Crochu de Savoie Beans, Dainagon Beans, Dolico Veneto Beans, Dragon Tongue Beans, Dry Beans, European Soldier Beans, Falcon Rice Beans, Flageolet Beans, Flor de Junio Beans, Flor de Mayo Beans, Fortin Family Beans, Fradinho Beans, French Fillet Beans, Garboncito Beans, Garrofo Beans, Good Mother Stallard Beans, Great Northern Beans, Green Beans, Green Flageolet Beans, Green Rice Beans, Hopi Black Pinto Beans, Jackson Wonder Beans, Kahnawake Mohawk Beans, Kunde Beans, Lablab Beans, Lima Beans, Lupini Beans, Madeira Beans, Magpie Beans, Mexican Bayo Beans, Moth Beans, Mung Beans, Navy Beans, Nodak Beans, Pebble Beans, Peruano Beans, Pigeon Peas, Pink Beans, Pinto Beans, Pole Beans, Rattlesnake Beans, Red Ball Beans, Red Kidney Beans, Red Nightfall Beans, Refugee Beans, Rice Beans (Asian), Rice Beans, Rio Zappe Beans, Romano Beans, Runner Beans, Sangre de Toros Beans, Sator Beans, Seluga Beans, Shelling Beans, Tarahumara Canario Beans, Tepary Beans, Tiger's Eye Beans, Tolosana Beans, Toscanelli Beans, Trout Beans, Tweed Wonder Beans, Vallarta Beans, Wax Beans, Wild Goose Beans, Winged Beans, Witkiem Beans, Zolfino Pratomagno Beans
Other entries for Legumes
Lentils, Peas
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