Preparation
We will need ¼ kg of organic soy beans and a little vinegar. In the evening we put the soy beans into
a dish full of water and let them soak overnight. In the morning, we strain the water, put the soy beans
into a cooking pot, pour fresh water on them and boil a little. In about 20 minutes we strain the water
again, let the beans cool down a little and peel them by squeezing them in our hands. With a little skill you
will have it done in 5 minutes. It is convenient to use a shallow, wide pot. The peels do not tend to come to
the surface but they are lighter than the beans and so they stay above them. We strain the water with
peels very slowly to get rid of the peels and to keep the beans in the pot.
When there is little water, add some fresh and repeat slow straining (four or five times) until there are just
peeled soya beans left. If you want to save water, you may use a sieve, throw the peels away and use the
water again. Then we put the peeled soy beans into a pot with fresh water mixed with a spoonful of
apple- or rice vinegar and boil for at least 1 ½ hours. The beans must be soft, but not overcooked. First
we put them into a sieve to let them drip off and then move them onto a kitchen cloth to let them dry.
Vaccination
(Ratio of tempeh culture to soya beans differs depending on producers so you
should see the instructions on the package.)
We put soy beans into a pot, dust them with the tempeh culture and stir thoroughly. Vaccinated mixture
should be put into perforated forms, in a layer of max. 2-3 cm. It is often recommended to put them into
plastic bags and perforate them with a fork to ensure a little air and to protect the mixture from drying
out. However, this is a big mistake! Using soft plastic bags is very dangerous because soya contains a lot
of fat which is an active organic dissolving agent and then the tempeh gets contaminated! Instead of
plastic bags, we should use jars made from natural materials (stainless steel, glass-ceramic etc.)
Maturation
We put everything into a warm place. Considering the culture origin, it is necessary to keep the
temperature at 30 – 32 °C. Long term storing at temperatures above 35°C may cause that we “wake
up” other bacteria that cause a very unpleasant smell. If you keep the right temperature, tempeh is ready
in about 20 – 30 hours. Its surface should be white (resembling snow) and tough (when you take it out of
the form, it does not fall into pieces). If there are black spots visible (spores), do not worry, it is not
a serious problem but you should try to improve the production process next time (humidity,
temperature, time...) Unpleasant smell, however, is a sign of failure, as well as suspicious slimy surface.
Then it is better to throw it away and try again.
Storing
When you take tempeh out of the warm space (ideally from your multifunctional bread maker where the
temperature is constant all the time), it is necessary to cool it down immediately (in a fridge or a cellar) to
stop the activity of tempeh culture. If you do not have a suitable space for fast cooling necessary to stop
biochemical exothermic reaction, put tempeh into a freezer first and then (when its temperature is lower
than 10 °C) move it to a cool place. Storing in a freezer is possible too. However, it is a compromise.
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