Tempeh Mendoan

What is Tempeh Mendoan?

Tempeh Mendoan is a dish originating in Banyumas, a city in central Java. Mendo in the Banyumas dialect (Banyumasan or Basa Ngapak), means half-cooked. The tempeh will be coated in a liquid batter and fried in hot oil briefly to achieve a mushy texture. You can also ask for crispier tempeh mendoan at Indonesian street vendors and restaurants. It depends on what you prefer. You can eat this tempeh mendoan as a snack, appetizer, or as a side dish.

Substitution

Rice flour: This recipe uses a mixture of all-purpose flour and rice flour. When frying, rice flour absorbs less oil compared to all-purpose flour, which results in crispier and less greasy food. If you are not able to find rice flour, it is fine to use only all-purpose flour. It doesn’t work the opposite way. If you fry something with only rice flour your food will turn rock hard after cooling down.

Turmeric: If you have fresh turmeric, you can definitely use it. You can use about 1 inch of fresh turmeric in substitute of 1 tsp of turmeric powder.

Tips

• There are different varieties of tempeh sold in stores but the authentic Indonesian style of Tempeh Mendoan uses soybean tempeh. I have seen three-grain tempeh in stores and have seen others make black bean tempeh, I can not vouch for their taste.
• To make the tempeh more flavorful, you can boil the tempeh with salt and coriander powder. The boiled tempeh is then deep-fried in the spiced batter. To cook in the more traditional way, dip the unboiled tempeh in the spiced batter and fry it.

Tempe Mendoan

Recipe by Catherine RicardoCourse: AppetizersCuisine: IndonesianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

3

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Calories

408

kcal

Deep fried tempeh covered in spiced batter. Fried briefly to get a crunchy but soft inside.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour

• 1/4 cup rice flour

• 3/4 cup of water

• 2 pack 8oz tempeh, thinly sliced

• 4 – 5 stalk of scallion / chives, thinly sliced

• 3 – 4 cloves garlic

• 4 – 5 clove shallot

• 1.5 tsp coriander powder
  

• 1 tsp turmeric powder

• 1.5 tsp salt

• 1 tsp baking powder

• Oil, for frying

• Sweet and Spicy Chilli Sauce (optional)
  

• 5 tbsp sweet soy sauce

• 3 – 4 red chili pepper or Thai red chili

Directions

• In a medium pot, boil water with 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of coriander powder. Add tempeh and cook for about 1 – 2 minutes. Drain all the water and pat dry the tempeh. Set aside.
• In a small food processor or with mortar and pestle, blend garlic, shallot, turmeric powder, remaining coriander powder, remaining salt, and 1/4 cup of water until it becomes a paste.
• In a large bowl, mix flour, rice flour, and baking powder until well combined. Pour the spiced batter into the flour and add the sliced scallions. Slowly add the remaining water into the flour mixture. Stir well. The liquid batter should have the consistency of pancake batter.
• Take the tempeh that we patted dry and dip it into the liquid batter. Fry the tempeh for a minute or two for that mendoan style (mushy texture) or you can fry longer to get a crispier texture.
  
• Sauce (optional)
• Slice the fresh red chillies and put it into a bowl. Add sweet soy sauce and mix.

Notes

• 2 pack of 8 oz lightlife tempeh yields 12 pieces.