Recipe: Tempe Mendoan

Tempe (or tempeh) is a 'cake' from fermented soybeans. Fermentation makes tempe has more nutritional value in protein, fibers, and vitamins. This is one of reasons that tempe is famous as vegetarian cuisine, even if we should not have to be a vegetarian to like it. Tempe is a staple food in Java, an island in Indonesia, in western countries tempe usually is sold in vegetarian food court.

This a recipe of tempe mendoan from Central Java. Mendoan itself means fast deep fried. Tempe is sliced wide and thin before frying.

Ingredients:

• 300 g tempeh, size 10×15 cm
• 2 pieces green onion, slice thinly
• 199 g rice flour
• 1 tbs wheat flour
• 125 ml water
• ½ ml cooking oil

For grinding

• 2 tsp. coriander
• 1 piece garlic
• 1 cm greater galingale
• add salt according to taste

Cooking procedure

1. Put together the two kinds of flour and the ground ingredients.
2. Add water little by little until it forms a liquid dough. Mix together until it forms a smooth and complete mix.
3. Add the sliced green onion.
4. Warm the cooking oil in the frying pan.
5. Dip the tempeh into the dough.
6. Insert the tempeh into the hot oil, and fry it until done, don't take too long time, when dough is hardening, take tempe out from oil. Remember that mendoan means frying fast.
7. Take it out from the oil and serve it with small chilies.

Usually tempe mendoan is served with warm tea or coffee.  It is very popular in Central Java in which it originates.Coriander above is a spice, it is a typical characteristic of Java and Indonesian cuisine to use various spices (it is only coriander in tempe mendoan), so they usually have strong taste.

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