Super Easy And Healthy Fermented Tempeh Recipes

Pam Ko Fit Foodie

3 years ago

Soybean, used to make soft and silky tofu or to make a light and savory drinkable soymilk products, is an essential ingredient in oriental food culture. Soymilk is a drink that can be easily made or purchased as a healthy drink, but there are a lot of things you can make with soybeans. For example, it is a main ingredient of Korean soybean doenjang(soybean paste ??) that goes into a deep flavorful soybean soup(???) made with adding some seaweed and tofu at home or in most Korean restaurants. This is similar to miso soup consumed in Japan.

The good thing is because the soybean paste is a fermented food, it can be stored for a long time. In particular, in the old days when there was no refrigerator, you could leave it at room temperature for months or even years. So even poor people made and fermented soybean paste and stored it for a long time, making it an ingredient that the whole family can enjoy at any time. Basically, soybean paste is one of the main three major ingredients that reflect Korean food culture along with gochujang(???) and soy sauce(??).

delicious tempeh and homemade tapioca chips

Since I live in Malaysia, I have become accustomed to the various foods eaten using soybeans in this tropical Southeast Asian country. In Malaysia, people from Indonesia have settled on the Malay Peninsula for many generations, so you can easily access many delicious Indonesian foods everywhere.

In this blog, I’m going to show you tempeh, one of the soybean foods you can find in Southeast Asia. It is similar to Korean meju, only the shape and size are different. In other words, to make Korean soybean paste and soy sauce, the first thing to do is to make meju(??), which is a hard and square shape. And as the meju matures, mold edible fungus grows on the surface.

Similarly, in Malaysia and Indonesia, a similar soybean product is called tempeh. Most supermarkets sell them in flat 10cm squares that are no more than a centimeter thick. If you go to a local night market called pasar malam, you can often see them sold in a triangular shape wrapped in layers of banana leaves, rather than in plastic bags. Of course, I prefer the ones sold at the night market, but still, anything is fine for my tempeh recipe. The surface is covered with white mold. It feels so soft to the touch like cotton candy, which is really nice.

Comparing the smell of the two products from Korea and Malaysia, there is a strong and pungent smell of Korean doenjang soybean paste, but tempeh is not at all. If I had to describe the smell of tempeh, it’s just similar to the earthy smell and deep, savory smell that comes out just of boiling soybeans.

Not to mention that in Malaysia, the best place to try local tempeh dishes is at a local Muslim Malay restaurant. Especially the Malay restaurant inside the mosque is the best, read my local food story at the Mosque here!

buying fresh tempeh at Malaysian supermarket

If you go there, you will find a variety of deliciously prepared, colorful and savory local dishes. In particular, the most popular cooking method among various tempeh dishes is to cut tempeh into very small pieces, add anchovies, and then stir-fry them with essential seasonings such as soy sauce, sugar, sambal sauce, red chilli powder, garlic, ginger, salted shrimp paste(aka belachan), and oil. This dish is sweet, spicy, crunchy and really delicious. ????

You can also find long-sliced tempeh served in a milky vegetable chicken curry with coconut cream. The tempeh in this curry soaks up plenty of coconut cream, so the texture is soft and chewy.

frozen tempeh

Another reason I like tempeh is that, like Korean meju(??), the grains of soybeans remain and stick to each other rather than a lump of paste. At first glance, the soybean grains do not disappear from the tempeh, and the grains are still intact, so the texture is good and crunchy in the mouth. This also means there are very few other strange ingredients in it.

By looking at pictures of my tempeh dishes here, the highlight of my tempeh recipe is that it’s extremely easy and simple to cook. Basically, all of my recipes using tempeh are completed in less than a minute. haha!????

First, cut tempeh into bite-size pieces. In other words, cut 1 cm thick tempeh in half as if cutting a fish horizontally with a sharp knife.

Then lay them flat again, top and bottom facing each other, and quarter them exactly in the middle. So, in two rows, each divided into 4 equal parts, so there are 8 pieces in total.

Then simply place 8 slices in a heated pan with olive oil and grill for 30 seconds on each side. It’s about half a centimeter thick, so it cooks really quickly. So when the color changes to a moderately yellowish up on both sides, you’re done. Then spread whole-grain mustard on a sandwich or burger and add two or three grilled tempeh with your favorite grilled or fresh vegetables and cheese.

This is a really simple, delicious and nutritious vegetarian tempeh sandwich or tempeh burger. Nowadays, it’s not hard to see a vegan patty burger made with chickpeas, which is a trendy diet among western vegetarians. Likewise, burgers made with these tempeh patties are just as delicious as burgers with chickpeas or falafel. So if you want to have it as a full meal, try making a delicious tempeh sandwich or burger with assorted vegetables and cheese. ????

super delicious tempeh and veggies sandwich

I’m so happy to be able to tell you once again how easy and satisfying tempeh dishes are to make your day feel like having a great meal! My easy-to-follow recipe couldn’t be easier as it requires very little cooking time. If you want to add a bit of flavor, you can sprinkle a pinch of salt as you grill it in the pan. Also, you can make a savory tempeh and egg patties by coating beaten eggs, and it takes about 2-3 minutes to cook in a pan. So, it contains not only soy protein but also egg protein, making it even more nutritious meal!

tempeh with various veggies and egg omelette

My tempeh recipes are only lightly cooked on both sides like this, and they’re perfect for pairing with other vegetables or paired with raw tofu or your favorite meat that’s already cooked. If you are on a carbohydrate-free diet, eating only tempeh cooked in this way is healthier and more delicious than any other snack food.

tempeh with fresh tofu and egg omelette along with homemade Korean onion kimchi

If you live in the West, you can easily buy tempeh at Asian Mart. Then try this time-saving recipe like me and enjoy a quick meal of the day. The good thing, of course, is that these tempeh burgers make a great vegan meal or snack because they are healthy and nutritious. ???? yum yum!

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