After a hiatus Fermentation Friday is back on and in fine form. The new format is kicking every two weeks with someone riding each project at the helm. This week Adam led us on our virgin tempeh voyage. I was pretty and overly excited, as it is a life long dream to learn how to make tempeh, particulary so I can make the really crunchy flavoursome and alive stuff I have eaten on my adventures to warmer places and to make it out of ingredients other than soy.
We ate many delicious things includig Megsy's roast capscium, sweet potato and ginger soup with homemade Romano cheese (aged 2 months) and oven fresh pita crisps (in the picture above). Paul brought homemade olives collected in St kilda and marinated in oranges. Hannah brought a delicious yogurt and tamari dip that looked like tahina. Simon cracked open a jar of his fermented tomato sauce (tomato sauce (tomato, lemon, salt preserved in a vacoula jar for one year) garlic, chili and whey and left on the bench to ferment, for a period of time that I can't remember) and many other delicious things that were shared and eaten and enjoyed.
Tempeh adventure
Adam recently acquired a bag of tempeh spore from Malaysia and was friendly enough to share it very genorously with all of us present and show us how to make it. It was super wonderful and awesome and informative.
We followed the basic proportions of ingredients in Sandor Katz's book of -
2 and 1/2 cups soybeans
2 tbs vinegar
1 tsp tempeh spore
and then improvised with our own ideas and ingredients.
I used the chickpeas I got from mount zero at the farmers next week (biodynamic and grown in north west Victoria). To make tempeh you need to cook your beans and then remove the skin of every single one as the tempeh mould only grows when it has direct contact. The process of dehulling is somewhat enjoyable and meditative as long as you don't have to do too many. I loved doing this part but it certainly took awhile doing it manually. Then you mix the beans with the spores and pack into a form such as a zip lock bag. Then endeavour to keep it in an even temperature of 29-32 degrees for 1-2 days. Good air circulation is important. Living somewhere tropical is definately advantageous but it is possible with attention and love to make it happen in these colder parts.
We made chickpea, chickpea and nori seaweed, soybean, pidgeon pea and almost fava bean (the broadies ended up being overcooked so they weren't used for tempeh) varieties of tempeh.
a makeshift incubator was rigged up with a light inside a cardbaord box covered in a sleeping bag.
"They do not need to be soft enough for a pleasant eating experience, the mould will further soften them. If they lose their form, there will not be air spaces between beans and the tempeh process will be impeded. The general rule of thumb is to cook beans to the point where they are barely edible, meaning you can sink your teeth through them. Figure no more than 25 percent of normal cooking time." - from Wild Fermentation
