What Is Tempeh? A Simple Guide to Our Hero Ingredient

|Team TEMPTÉ
Close-up of a block of tempeh next to a bowl of whole soybeans

What is tempeh?

If you've never come across tempeh before, you're in good company. It's been eaten daily in Indonesia for centuries, but most people in the UK have only met it in passing; usually in the chilled aisle, next to the tofu, looking a bit mysterious.

In short, tempeh is a firm, savoury unit made from whole soybeans that have been cooked and then fermented. During fermentation, a friendly culture grows through the beans and knits them together into a single solid block; a bit like the white bloom on a wheel of brie, but holding a cake of beans in place. That puts tempeh in a family with miso, soy sauce and natto, though it's the only one of them where the bean survives intact.


Where it comes from

Tempeh is Javanese, and it's old. The first written mention appears in the Serat Centhini, a Javanese text from 1815, though it was almost certainly being made long before anyone wrote it down.

Traditionally, the inoculated beans were wrapped in banana leaves and left in a warm corner of the house for a day or two. The leaves held in warmth and moisture while still letting the culture breathe. Modern producers use perforated bags instead, but the process hasn't fundamentally changed in two hundred years.


What does it taste like?

Nutty and savoury, with a mushroomy, slightly earthy note from the fermentation. The texture is firm and a little grainy. You can see and feel the individual beans, which is exactly the point.

It also takes on flavour well. Tempeh holds a marinade far better than most plant proteins, and it crisps up beautifully rather than going soft.


How is it eaten?

In Java, most often sliced thin and fried until golden and crisp, it's a dish commonly known as tempe goreng. Or it could also be cut into matchsticks and tossed in a sweet, spicy sauce as tempe orek. It turns up in curries, in soups, on skewers, and in a hundred variations of sambal.

Elsewhere, people tend to:

  • Slice and pan-fry it with soy, garlic and a little maple, then pile it into a sandwich
  • Crumble it and use it wherever you'd use mince, in bolognese, chilli, tacos
  • Cube and roast it until the edges catch, then scatter it over a grain bowl or salad
  • Marinate and grill it on a barbecue, where it behaves far better than tofu


What's in it

Tempeh is made from whole soybeans, which means it retains the fibre that's removed when soybeans are processed into soy milk and then tofu. It's a substantial food containing protein, iron, magnesium and B vitamins.

The fermentation does something interesting too. It breaks down some of the compounds in raw soya that make beans harder to digest, and it breaks down phytic acid, the compound that binds up minerals in raw beans. In other words, the culture does a bit of the work before you've even eaten it.


Why we make tempeh snacks

We wanted a snack we could keep going back to. Something with a bit of substance to it, rather than another handful of air and seasoning, and easy to eat on the go.

Our TEMPTÉ snacks are baked rather than fried, and versatile enough to hold its own with a dip, on a cheese board, or straight from the bag.


Keep reading

Curious what we’re doing with tempeh? Meet TEMPTÉ →⁠


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