According to Wikipedia, Tempeh is a traditional soy product which originated from Indonesia. It is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form. It is a staple source of protein for the people of the island of Java.
My family's experience with Tempeh is only a year and a half old. When my husband suffered from serious eczema, a condition where patches of his skin become inflamed, itchy, red, cracked and rough), he stayed away from food that might cause or aggravate his skin condition like seafood. Searching for food that he can eat and which will give him his protein requirement, he came across the Tempeh. And as the saying, the rest is history. We have been cooking Tempeh very often ever since. There are many ways of eating Tempeh; the World Wide Web is abound with Tempeh recipes. However, one of the simplest dish I have done is Deep Fried Tempeh.
I only use the following to make it:
- 1 piece of Tempeh (which can be bought from the Farmers' Market or wet market or supermarket)
- A few stalks of spring onion
- 1 - 2 chili padi
- 2 parts of rice flour
- 1 part of all-purpose flour
- Water
- Salt to taste
- Oil for frying.
The way to do it:
- Cut the Tempeh into squares of 1 inch x 1 inch. Set aside.
- Wash and cut up the spring onion into tiny pieces.
- Wash and cut the chili padi into tiny pieces.
- Mix the flours to form the batter:
- Mix 2 parts of rice flour with 1 part of all-purpose flour in a mixing bowl.
- Add water slowly into the flours and mix well. The batter should not be too thick nor too runny.
- Add in the spring onion and chili padi. Stir to mix them up.
- Add salt to taste.
- Heat up some oil in a wok.
- Put the Tempeh into the batter and coat them evenly.
- When oil is hot, put the Tempeh into the oil, piece by piece. (Ensure that each piece is coated with batter with spring onion and chili padi.)
- When 1 side has browned, turn the Tempeh to the other side.
- Scoop them up onto a kitchen towel to absorb additional oil.
- Serve with chili sauce or tomato sauce.