Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Tempeh Reuben

INGREDIENTS
  • 1 slice tempeh
  • 1/4 cup sauerkraut
  • 1 slice Swiss cheese
  • 1 tablespoon thousand island salad dressing
  • 2 slices rye bread
  • 1/2 tablespoon butter
DIRECTIONS
  1. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Spread butter over one side of one slice of bread. Place bread butter-side-down into skillet, and top with tempeh, Swiss cheese, and then sauerkraut. Spread butter on the remaining slice of bread, and place on top of sauerkraut. Cook until toasted on one side, flip, and continue cooking until cheese melts.

Baked Tempeh

INGREDIENTS
  • 2 tablespoons sunflower seed oil
  • 2 tablespoons brewers' yeast
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 1 tablespoon dried chives
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh marjoram
  • 2 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 (8 ounce) package tempeh, cut into 1/2 inch squares 
DIRECTIONS
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  2. In a bowl, stir together the oil, brewer's yeast, oregano, chives, marjoram, coriander, and salt until well mixed. Add cubed tempeh, and toss to coat. (More oil may be needed to coat tempeh completely.) Spread tempeh in a single layer onto a lightly oiled cookie sheet.
  3. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 2 to 3 minutes. Serve warm, and enjoy!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

How to make Tempeh

Making tempeh is very easy. Here we explain how to make tempeh from 100% soy. This is the traditional tempeh as it is consumed in the country of origin: Indonesia. To make 1kg tempeh you need the following ingredients:
- 600 g whole dry soybeans
- 5 tablespoons vinegar
- 1 teaspoon (about 5g) tempeh starter

Step 1: Cracking the soybeans

grain millThe easiest way is to crack the soybeans with a loosely set grain mill. Ideally each soybean is cracked in half. On the left you can see a picture of a Family Grain Mill. This grain mill can be bought on the internet for les than $100. With the Family Grain Mill you can split the 600 g soybeans in a few minutes. Daniel informed us that the Porkert Universal Grain Mill can also split the soybeans. It is a Czech made grain mill that is all hot dipped steel, easy to take apart and lasts a long time. If you know other grain mills that can do the job, please inform us!
When buying a grain mill consider that you can also use the dehulled soybeans to make soymilk. If you don't have a grain mill or dehulled soybeans continue with using whole soybeans, you will have to remove the hulls later by hand. If you are lucky, you can find a store that sells dehulled soybeans. Industrial tempeh producers normally buy dehulled soybeans. Maybe they will sell you some soybeans!

Step 2: Soaking and dehulling soybeans

Soak the soybeans in 2 liter water for 6 - 18 hours. If you use whole soybeans you should split them by squeezing them with a kneading motion. Stir gently causing the hulls to rise to the surface, then pour off water and hulls into a strainer. Add fresh water and repeat until most hulls are removed. Don't worry if a few hulls remain attached.

Step 3: Cooking the soybeans

Put the beans in a cooking pot and water to cover the soybeans. Add 3 tablespoon vinegar and cook for 30 min. Drain off the water and dry the soybeans by continue heating them in the pot on medium heat for a few minutes and until the beans are dry. Allow the soybeans to cool down to below 35°C.

Step 4: Inoculating the soybeans with tempeh starter

Sprinkle the soybeans with 1 teaspoon of tempeh starter. Mix with a clean spoon for about 1 minute to distribute the tempeh starter evenly. It's very important to mix the tempeh starter very well: it reduces the risk for spoilage and the fermentation will be faster. To promote the home production of tempeh we will send you a free sample of tempeh starter.

Step 5: Incubating the beans

Take 2 plastic bags 18 x 28 cm and perforate them with holes at a distance of about 1 cm by a thick but sharp needle. A normal needle is too thin, you need a fat needle or small nail (about 0.6 mm in diameter). This will allow the mould to breathe.
Divide the soybeans in the two bags and seal them. Press them flat, making sure that the total thickness of the beans is max 3 cm. Place the packed beans in an incubator at 30°C or at a warm place for about 36- 48 hours during which the tempeh fermentation takes place. Then the container should be filled completely with white mycelium and the entire contents can be lifted out as a whole piece.

Blatantly plagiarized from

What is Tempeh?

Tempeh, or tempe in Javanese, is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form. It is especially popular on the island of Java, where it is a staple source of protein. Like tofu, tempeh is made from soybeans, but tempeh is a whole soybean product with different nutritional characteristics and textural qualities. Tempeh's fermentation process and its retention of the whole bean give it a higher content of protein, dietary fiber, and vitamins compared to tofu, as well as firmer texture and stronger flavor. Because of its nutritional value, tempeh is used worldwide in vegetarian cuisine; some consider it to be a meat analogue.