Crispy Tempeh in Rice Flour

A friend of ours from Solo (Indonesia) makes his tempeh in a way I didn’t know before; he soaks his slices for hours in salty water with lots of garlic. This method ensures that the tempeh has a big savory flavor, also on the inside. Time to share this recipe of crispy tempeh in rice flour with you.

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This dish is ready in 45 minutes and is enough for 2-3 people as a side dish or snack.

Crispy Tempeh in Rice Flour Solo Style

Ingredients

• 250 grams of tempeh (fermented soy bean)
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 6 tablespoons rice flour
• 6 tablespoons of water
• 2-3 teaspoons of salt
• 1 teaspoon ketumbar (koriander powder)
• 1 teaspoon of galangal (laos powder)
• 3 chopped kaffir lime leaves (possibly)
• frying oil

1. Cut the tempeh in half lengthwise and cut in 1 cm slices
2. Place in a bowl and add water until the tempeh is just under
3. Add 2 teaspoons of salt and 3 crushed garlic cloves
4. Leave this for at least an hour
5. Make a batter with the rice flour and water
6. Add half a teaspoon of salt, ketumbar, galangal and finely chopped garlic and some finely chopped jeruk purut leaves.
7. Heat the oil, add the tempeh slice by slice through the batter and fry until golden brown
8. Serve with sambal, peanut or soy sauce

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The batter and the marinating of the tempeh determine the flavor. I make sure that my salty water is really salty. If you taste it, it is too salty like seawater and that is okay. Tempeh must be well flavored or your tempeh will be dull in flavor.

I usually make this tempeh marinate in the afternoon so that it has hours to soak. If you have less time, marinate for at least an hour.

I squeeze the garlic through my garlic press and add it to the salty water. The garlic press helps to release all of the lovely garlicky flavor.

Batter

For the batter I chop the garlic into fine pieces. I do not use the garlic press now. The big garlic chunks turn into crispy, tasty chunks in the tempeh tempura. Delicious!

Today I add coriander powder (ketumbar) and galangal powder (laos) in the batter, you can also add turmeric (kunyit) to make these cripsy tempeh fritters look fancy golden too.

I like to add finely chopped kaffir lime leaves (jeruk purut) to the batter because it looks nice and gives a lot of flavor. Deep frying makes the sturdy leaves a lot more tender and perfectly edible.

Without batter

You can also make this recipe without a batter. Deep-fry the slices directly from the water until crispy and golden brown. The oil splashes a little more when the wet slices touch the surface. I always use a splash screen on the pan.

You can eat this crunchy tempeh in rice flour with all kinds of sauces or salsas. Today I make a sambal Boet, but tempeh is delicious with rich and sweet soy sauce or homemade peanut sauce. Selamat makan!