Tempe or tempeh is an Indonesian soybean cake. In order making sambal tumpang, you need tempe semangit. Semangit is derived from a word "sangit" which is meant less pleasant odour. A word "semangit" usually is followed after a word "tempe", and known as Tempe semangit. What is tempe semangit and is it different from tempe?

Tempe semangit can be categorized as an old or rotten tempe. What did I mean by old or rotten tempe? First of all, I will explain briefly the process on making tempe. You will need cooked soybeans, then add Rhizopus, a mold that helps soybeans to ferment for 24 hours. When the fermentation process is done, it binds the soybeans into a compact white cake. According my internet research, it will take more than 24 hours to ferment cooked soybeans into tempe in North America; it's about 36-48 hours.

Tempe is a protein alternative resource for vegetarians or vegans. Back when I was in Indonesia, tempe is a cheap protein resource and totally different since I moved to Canada; tempe becomes an expensive protein choice. Tempe is not only rich in essential amino acids, it is also high in vitamin B12.

When the tempe has undergone the fermentation more than a day and untreated, it will be overly ripe or rotten and known as tempe busuk or semangit because the smell is dreadful. But it doesn't make the tempe become useless. The Javanese seeks and uses it for cooking sambal or adding to a vegetable dish. Please see closely the different profile of tempe and tempe semangit.


The one on the right hand corner of each photo is tempe semangit

There are two places in Java that claimed Sambal Tumpang as their dish, Kediri (East Java) and Solo (Central Java). However, both places have a slightly different way in the recipe and serving. In Central Java, sambal tumpang is added with other protein resources such as beef, tofu as well as vegetables ("it tastes better with petai - stinky beans" said my friend Haley) while in East Java this sambal is pure made from a combination of 75% old tempe and 25% fresh/frozen good tempe. In this post, I will include the Eastern Javanese way for sambal tumpang.

In East Java, sambal tumpang is drizzled over pecel (Java style salad with peanut sauce). On the other hand, in Central Java, sambal tumpang is a side dish that is eaten with warmed cooked rice and boiled vegetables; no pecel to company.

Sambal Tumpang
- Java Style Old Tempe Sambal -

Ingredients:
200 g tempe semangit (use fresh or frozen tempe if you can't find tempe semangit)
1 cm galangal, bruised
2 Indonesian bay (salam) leaves
200 ml coconut milk
1 cup (250 mL) water

Spices to be ground:
45 g peeled shallots
5 g peeled garlics
1 cm peeled kencur/kaempeferia galangal (substitute for 1/2 tsp kencur powder)
6 kaffir lime leaves, chopped
1 tsp toasted coriander seed
1/2 tsp terasi/dried shrimp paste (optional)
1 candlenut (substitute for macadamia nut)
3 red cayenne peppers (Indonesian: cabe merah keriting)
1 bird eye chili
seasalt

Methods:
1. Pound or chop tempe semangit with a pestle or a chopper.

2. In a pot, add pounded tempe, ground spices, salam leaves, galangal and water. Cook until a boil. Then turn the heat to low and simmer for 5 -10 more minutes or until the spices absorb.

3. Add coconut milk, stir occasionally and bring to re-boil. Remove from the heat. Serve with pecel and warm cooked rice.

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To begin with, I was surprised that Rasa Malaysia has chosen me to be the guest writer of Indonesian cuisine on her blog. Rasa Malaysia is one of my inspired blogs among the Asian specialty blogs. We share the same passion for Asian food as we came from the same region, Malay Peninsula where Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia are from the same language root. Some of the food terms are the same, few are different.

In Indonesia, Gado-gado is not a salad dish group, it is a one dish meal. With 17,000 islands and 300 ethnic groups in the country, it has impacts on food varieties; so does gado-gado. Varieties of Gado-gado were developed based on the region.

You can take the girl out of the country but not the country out of the girl. Follow my recalled to Classic Gado-Gado Surabaya recipe at Rasa Malaysia along with the glossaries.

Ps. Thank you, Bee for the opportunity.

Disclaimer: For the shot's purpose, Gado-gado Surabaya on this picture has less sauce than the normal one.
Don't forget to join (Almost) Forgotten Indonesian Culinary Herritage

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My... my... my... this is one of my soulfood. I had been tempted to make it long time ago, but I kept delaying. Finally, I made this by adapting mbak Emi's recipe. According mbak Emi, she didn't add any shallot, but I did add a shallot in, but don't add to much or you will ruin the taste. She was right not to add shallot in.

While I was trying to translate this recipe's name into English, it looks such a long name, while in bahasa Indonesia itself has a more simple name.

Back then, my family used to add boiled eggs as well. Anyway, this recipe was posted on my multiply on November 20, 2007.

Ingredients:
150 g Asian eggplants
175 g tempe
300 ml coconut milk (not too thick not too thin)
salt and sugar to season

Grind into a paste
3 cloves garlic
1 shallot (better skip this)
3 candlenuts, toasted
1/2 tsp terasi (dried shrimp paste), toasted
2 red chillies
3 bird's eye chillies (add more if you like spicy)
2 cm kencur (also known as kaempferia galangal)
3 kaffir lime leaves


Directions:
Steam tempe and eggplants.

In a pot, add coconut milk, spiced paste, salt and sugar. Simmer for couple minutes until thicken and well mixed.

Place eggplants and tempe on a serving plate. Pour the coconut milk mixture over. Depress eggplants and tempe a bit, so they will be mixed with the sauce.

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As I noted on my post here, tempe is very popular and traditional food in Indonesia, especially in Java island where I was born and grew up. Tempe always brings my memory back to Indonesia, where I can find tempe easily, either fresh or cooked. Back then, when my mom had a home-based catering business, she always had lots idea what she was going to make for traditional party. One of her favorite's ingredients was tempe.

At this time, I'm sending my childhood appetizer/snack for my entry at this November's Monthly Mingle, hosted by Meeta of What's For Lunch Honey? with a theme Traditional Feast.

Mendoan Tempe
A word mendoan is from Banyumas dialect, one of some dialects in Javanese. It means under-cooked or not hard or limp. That is why to make this mendoan need lots hot oil and quick-cooked technique. We eat this by dipping mendoan tempe into sambal kecap. Every person has a different kind of flours to make mendoan tempe, some use mixture rice flour with all purpose flour, some use all purpose flour, some use self-raising flour, and I myself use cake and pastry flour.

Ingredients:
500 grams tempeh, cut into 1/2 cm thick
oil for deep frying

Batter
1 1/4 cup cake and pastry flour
230 ml cold water
4 Chinese chives (Indonesian: kucai, Chinese: he), finely sliced

Grind into spice
1 1/2 tsp corriander seed
3 candlenuts
5 cloves garlic
7 cm kencur (also known as kaempferia galangal)
salt as desired

Sambal Kecap
1/4 cup kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)
2 tsp fresh lime juice*
bird's eye chillies (as many as you desire), sliced

*some people don't add lime juice, I preferably add due to the sweetness and thickness of kecap manis bango's brand.



Directions:

• Combine cold water with ground spices. Add flour and whisk quickly. Dip gently the tempeh slices into batter. Deep fried in hot oil until it turn golden brown and cooked through.

Sambal Kecap

• Combine all ingredients
  

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After reading the 2nd Onion day invitation on IMBB, I sent an email to Zorra regarding on that event. Thanks to Zorra for hosting this event. With my consideration of being an Indonesian, tempeh or tempe has a cake form, made from soybean by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process. It is originated from Indonesia and invented by the Javanese. It's also popular in other parts of Indonesia as well as other parts of Southeast Asia, introduced by migrated Javanese. Known as a staple source of protein in Java island of Indonesia.

Diced Tempe

I joined this event with Tempe Bawang Bumbu Kecap (literally tempeh and onion with sweet soy sauce. This recipe is adapted from ayam bumbu kecap's recipe, literally in English, Chicken with Sweet Soy Sauce.

Indonesians (especially the Javanese) love to use kecap manis. This is a different soy sauce, it's sweet (because it's added in palm sugar), thicker and also has a different flavor with regular soy sauce. Mostly in abroad, people use ABC's brand, for this recipe I used Bango�s brand which is not all Asian stores have it and to be honest I only use ABC�s brand if I can't find Bango or Cap Sate's brand.

Ingredients:
225 g tempe, cut 1 cm diced, marinate for 30 minutes, deep fry until lightly browned
1 medium (200 g) onion, wedged
2 Indonesian bay (salam) leaves
2 cm galangal
2 green chillies, angle cut
2 tbsp Indonesian sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
1 tbsp oyster sauce
200 ml water

Grind into a paste
3 cloves garlic
5 shallots
ground white pepper as desired
salt as desired

Marinade
garlic powder
ground corriander seed
water

Directions:
1. Heat up oil in a skillet at medium-high. Stir fry a spiced paste, wedged onion until fragrant. Add salam leaves and galangal until wilted.
2. Add tempe and green chillies, stir evenly. Add kecap manis, oyster sauce, white pepper, and salt, stir.
3. Add water and cook until the water evaporates and the spices is absorbed. Remove from the heat. Serve with warmed rice.

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Still continuing my housewarming party's recipe. Now it's time for a recipe of Sambal Goreng Cirebon (Cirebonese Fried Sambal). It's not really like a chili paste, a term for sambal. This sambal goreng's recipe was adpated from Nining's recipe, in which original recipe uses beef as well as innards. As I mentioned on previous posts, my husband doesn't eat red meat, so I used tempeh, tofu and shrimp. Instead of fresh red chillies, I used dried new Mexico chilies to get brighter red color.

Please get right back, I still have another recipe of my housewarming party left on my next post.

Ingredients:
3 tofus, cut 1x1x2 cm and fried
200 g tempe, cut 1x1x2 cm and fried
150 peeled and tail intact shrimp
10 dried new Mexico chillies, discard the seed and soak in warm water, angle sliced
6 shallots, finely sliced
3 kaffir lime leaves
1 Indonesian bay (salam) leaves
3 cm galangal, bruised
1 lemongrass, bruised
150 ml water
35 g coconut cream powder
salt sugar as desired to season
oil for stir frying

Grind into a paste
5 dried new Mexico chillies
7 shallots
4 cloves garlic
3 candlenuts
1/2 cm ginger
1/4 tsp ground turmeric

Directions:
1. Stir fry slices of shallots until fragrant.
2. Add a ground paste, kaffir lime leaves, salam leaves, galangal and lemongrass; Stir occasionally until all spices are cooked.
3, Add fried tempe and tofu, shrimp, and dried chillies
4. Add coconut cream powder and water. Cook until coconut milk dissolved and thicken.

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Indonesians almost eat everything with sambal. Sambal is a condiment used in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka, made from a variety of peppers, although chilli peppers (red chilies, green chilies, bird's eye chilies) are the most common. Sambal is used as a condiment or as a side dish, and is sometimes substituted for fresh chillis; it can be very hot for the uninitiated. It is available at exotic food markets or gourmet departments in supermarkets in numerous countries.

When I was in Sidoarjo (a suburban city of Surabaya, East Java), Indonesia, it's easy to get Sambal Tempe Penyet at a kaki lima vendor or a warung around Sidoarjo-Surabaya. We eat this sambal penyet with warmed steamed rice. Since I have been in Canada, I have to make this by myself which I never did it while I was in Indonesia.



Ingredients:
300 grams tempe, cut as desired
olive oil with fried garlics
4 red chilies
5 bird's eye chilies
3 cloves garlic
2 cm kencur root (some people may name this as lesser galangal , but it is totally different another proper name is kaepferia galangal)
1/2 tsp dried shrimp paste (it's called terasi in Indonesian's term), toasted or stir fry
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar


Directions:
1. Toast tempe with a small amout of olive oi. Bake until brown or done. Alternative: you can grill or deep fry the tempeh.
2. Grind or blend red chilies, bird's eye chilies, garlic, kencur, dried shrimp paste, salt and sugar. It will be better if you grind the sambal ingredients in a mortar with a pestle.
3. Place tempe and sambal in a serving plate, crush tempe and stir evenly with the sambal. Serve with warmed steamed rice.

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As I wrote before, tempeh is an Indonesian soybean cake, and it is a staple source of protein in Indonesia for several hundred years already, is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybean particles into a cake form.

A year ago, I coulnd't purchase tempeh in Winnipeg. So where I can get it in Winnipeg?

Dong Thai Ltd

459 Notre Dame Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3B 1R4

(204) 943-9868

One of my blog reader asked me where he/she can purchase in Vancouver? Today, I asked Mr. Wong, the owner of Dong Thai, he told me that you can buy tempeh at Hanlong in Surrey, which I'm not sure that is the proper way to spell "Hanlong". Anyway, those tempeh is also made by the Indonesian.

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Another recipe of tempeh and tofu. This recipe is adapted from Tempeh Bumbu Petis of Tabloid Nova. Since I had tofu and tempeh, so I combined both those soy products. Petis Udang is literally translated as shrimp paste, which has strong flavour and dark color.


Ingredients:
300 grams tempeh, cut into 4 x2 cm squares
2 tofus, cut each tofu into 8 small cubes

For Marinating
2 gloves garlic, grated
1 tsp salt
150 ml water

Ground/Pureed Spices:
3 bird's eye chilies
2 gloves garlic
5 shallots

1 tsp shrimp paste
1 tbsp Indonesian sweet soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
200 ml air
oil to deep fry tofus and tempehs
2 tbsp fried shallots for sprinkle

Directions:
1. Combine tempeh and tofu with marinating ingredients. Marinate for 30 minutes. Deep fry tofu and tempe until golden brown.
2. Stir fry the pureed/ground ingredients until fragrant. Add tempeh and tofu, stir evenly.
3. Add shrimp paste, sweet soy sauce, salt and water. Cook until the spices dissolve.
4 Serve by sprinkling freid shallots over.

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Mendoan tempe is very popular in Indonesia as appetizer or snack. It's easy to get mendoan tempe at kaki limas vendor or warungs. The kaki lima is a pedestrian sidewalk where vendors sell their food from carts to passersby. They often cook the meals for customers upon request. A warung is an open-air eatery which has few benches or just a bench.

A word mendoan is from Banyumas dialect, one of some dialects in Javanese. It means under-cooked or not hard or limp. That is why to make this mendoan need lots hot oil and quick-cooked technique.

Category:		Appetizers & Snacks
Style:		Indonesian

Ingredients:
200 grams tempeh, cut into 1/2 cm thick
oil for deep frying

Marinade
150 ml water
2 cloves garlic, grated
1/2 tsp salt

Batter
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
230 ml cold water
2 green onions, finely sliced

Ground Spices for Batter
3/4 tsp corriander seed
5 cloves garlic
4 cm lesser galangal ( I don't have any lesser galangal at that time, I added ground turmeric instead)
salt as desired


Directions:

• Combine tempeh with water, grated garlic and salt. Flip them over a couple of times to spread. Marinate for 10 minutes. Remove and drain.

• Combine cold water with ground spices. Add flour and whisk quickly. Dip gently the tempeh slices into batter. Deep fried in hot oil until it turn golden brown and cooked through.

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I will not ask this question to Indonesians, because Indonesians know about their tempeh very well. Has anybody ever heard about tempeh before? I copied 1 paragraph about tempeh and 3 paragraphs how to produce it from wikipedia.Tempeh, a staple source of protein in Indonesia for several hundred years already, is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybean particles into a cake form. It is originated from Indonesia, where it is most popular, especially on the island of Java (where it is a staple), although it is common in other parts of Southeast Asia as well. It's a kind like tofu, tempeh is made from soybeans, but tempeh is a whole soybean product with different nutritional characteristics, textural qualities and need to be fermented in special conditions. 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.

How to Produce

Tempeh begins with whole soybeans, which are softened by soaking and dehulled, then partly cooked. Specialty tempehs may be made from other types of beans, wheat, or may include a mixture of beans and whole grains.

A mild acidulent, usually vinegar, may be added and a culture containing the spores of fungus Rhizopus oligosporus is then mixed in. The beans are spread into a thin layer and are allowed to ferment for approximately 24 hours at a temperature around 30�C (86�F). In good tempeh, the beans are knit together by a mat of white mycelia.

Under conditions of lower temperature, or higher ventilation, gray or black patches of spores may form on the surface -- this is not harmful, and should not affect the flavor or quality of the tempeh. This sporulation is normal on fully mature tempeh. A mild ammonia smell may accompany good tempeh as it ferments, but it should not be overpowering. In Indonesia, ripe tempeh (two or more days old) is considered a delicacy.I know that some Asian or health stores in few Canada's big cities sell tempeh, but since it's not lots Indonesians in Winnipeg, it's not easy for me to find tempeh for purchase. If I wanted tempeh a year ago I should order from Vancouver or Toronto, where lots Indonesians live in. Couple days ago, I went to my favourite oriental store, Dong Thai. I saw frozen tempeh in that store freezer. I was so excited and happy, it had been more than a year I was waiting for that tempeh is available to purchase in Winnipeg.
This store sells two different packages of tempeh, one is with a tag inside the package and it's produced in Ontario and another one without a tag is produced in Vancouver. I did try both of those tempehs and it came to my conclusion that the Vancouver's produced tastes better and there some places in Vancouver or British Columbia that produced tempeh, but not all of them produced a good tasted tempeh.

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