Tempu 🤯 tempeh made of tofu!
Tempu – tempeh made out of slices of tofu! This is a slice that has been sauteed in some olive oil.
Tempu 🤯 it's tempeh made from tofu!
Did you already see my video about this experiment on Instagram? In it I explain the process in just over a minute.
Not to toot my own horn, but I don’t think anyone’s done this before. At least, I typed it into the search engine and found nothing. So it was time to experiment!
(Update: I have found something similar in Chinese cuisine, see below under “Tips & notes”)
It actually makes perfect sense, though: the tempeh fungus (Rhizopus oligosporus) loves soy beans, and what is tofu made of? Exactly!
A slice of tempu (tempeh made of tofu) sizzling in the pan.
But why, Jonathan?
There are actually several advantages to making tempeh out of tofu, I have discovered!
1. You don’t have to soak, cook and dehull soy beans like with normal tempeh. This makes it a much simpler process.
2. You get a completely new texture that’s more complex than tofu and more juicy than tempeh.
3. Healthier, probably? I don’t know. Ask an expert. But I’m pretty sure tempeh is even healthier than plain tofu.
4. Doesn’t it look really cool?
5. The possibilities! You could marinate the resulting tempu to taste like fish or like bacon. You can slice it thin or serve it as a steak! So many possibilities.
The taste
As I say above, you could marinate the tempu to give it all sorts of flavours. But it’s full of flavour already. I would describe the natural flavour of sauteed tempu as earthy and nutty like tempeh, packed with umami, and with a light lemony note.
The flavour will be more gentle the sooner you terminate the growth of the fungus. If you let it mature to the stage where it goes black/grey like mine, then it will taste stronger. Try both!
The process in photos
Recipe: Tempu 🤯 tempeh made of tofu!
Requirements
An oven, dehydrator, incubator or room that can maintain a steady 27–33 degrees C. Some ovens don’t go this low.
An oven thermometer: you can’t really trust the oven knob to accurately predict the temperature
Glass dish or silicone bread form, or similar
Clean kitchen towel(s)
Ingredients
A block of good quality tofu
Beetroot juice, for colour (I used the juice from a packet of cooked beets)
Apple cider vinegar
About 1 tsp of tempeh starter
Instructions
I go into detail here, but it’s actually a really easy process. See the video (reel) on my Instagram page for a simple overview.
…
Pat your tofu block dry with a clean kitchen towel. Cut it into even slices (cross sections).
Get a bowl and add about a third of a cup (80ml) of beet juice and 1 dessert spoon of apple cider vinegar. Coat the slices of tofu in this mixture. Let them soak up as much as possible for a couple of minutes.
Shake off the marinated tofu and dab the slices with some kitchen paper. They don’t need to be bone dry, just not dripping wet.
Sprinkle the tempeh starter all over the slices and rub it in with clean hands.
Sterilise a heat-proof glass dish or silicone loaf pan with boiling water. Discard the water and let the dish dry by evaporation or using a clean kitchen towel.
Stack your slices of tofu in the dish. If they don’t fill the dish completely, wedge the slices together gently with something clean. I used a cheese former that I had lying around as it fit the gap.
Cover the dish with a clean kitchen towel (try not to let it touch or rest on the tofu) and keep the dish at around 27-33 degrees Celsius for at least 24 hours.
I found that the lowest setting on my oven can achieve this, but be careful: some ovens say they go this low but actually they are hotter. Use a thermometer. If the temp goes too high you’ll kill the tempeh mould.
I left mine in another 12 hours and the tempeh fungus grew to maturity. In other words, it went black/grey. If you want to keep it snow-white, you might get it to grow more slowly by using less starter or keeping the temperature lower.
I sliced the resulting ‘tempu’ and sauteed it in a pan with olive oil. I then seasoned with a pinch of salt.
You can enjoy it like this or you can also try marinating the tempeh before cooking. I certainly would like to try a marinade with sea flavours, and a marinade with smoky-sweet ‘bacon’ flavours …
Tips & notes 💡
At no point should the tempeh small ‘bad’ or ‘off’. When it’s ready it should smell something like fresh button mushrooms, i.e. not much smell at all. If your tempeh is wet, slimy or stinky, it may have gone bad due to contamination by another mould or bacteria. Don’t take any risks with your health.
Update to my original post: I have since learned that there is something similar to this in Chinese cuisine: ‘pehtze’ is produced by a similar process (tofu with tempeh mould grown on it), except not in layered slices like I have done here. Also, I believe Pehtze is usually brined or salted and further matured over a long period of time to produce a soft, cheese-like product called sufu. The approach I describe in this recipe produces a firmer, meatier result. I can’t find much info about pehtze online in English, so please feel free to correct me if I have misrepresented it here.
Tag me
Tag me on social media (@tichostable) — I would love to see your recreations and experiments! I also have a reel on my Instagram that shows the whole process, which may be helpful.
