Marinated tempeh Indonesian style

Indonesian cuisine is very suitable for delicious dishes that originate from improvisations. This dish releases a real flavor explosion. When I was still living at my mom's place, we frequently ate tempeh in all kind of varieties. It's not just a super-versatile meat substitute but is also highly nutritious. You can fry tempeh until crisp or bake it as a meat substit ute ina roti dish Do you have some leftovers? Take it the next day with you to school or work because it is tremendously tasty whether hot or cold.

What does it do with my body ?
Tempeh consists out of a lot of protein and thus contributes to an adequate daily protein intake. It also contains isoflavones, saponins, minerals and vitamins and especially isoflavones which have a very positive effect on our bones as they strengthen it. Saponins lower cholesterol levels and boost our immune system, it is even claimed that it reduces the risk of cancer and heart disease significantly.

Ingredients
• 80 ml ketjap Manis
• 1 teaspoon of palm sugar
• a pinch of Laos, Sereh and gingerroot
• 1 teaspoon of 5 spices
• 120 gr cubed tempeh
• 1 teaspoon of sambal Manis
• 1 teaspoon of tamarind paste
• 1 whole paprika
• 1 teaspoon of garlic paste

Preparation of the marinade
1. Put the soy sauce in a bowl large enough to be able to add the tempeh later on
2. Add the palm sugar and the five spice mix to the soy sauce and stir briskly. The soy sauce slightly begins to foam and that means the sugar is absorbed by the sauce
3. Then add the sambal, garlic paste, tamarind paste and a pinch of Laos, Sereh and gingerroot to the marinade and stir it again firmly until all spices are included in the marinade
4. If you haven't done it already, cut the tempeh into cubes and add them to the marinade and let all the blocks soak well in the marinade. Let the tempeh absorb the marinade about thirty minutes and scoop the tempeh every ten minutes.

Preparation of the tempeh
1. Put a tablespoon of coconut oil in a pan and let it melt
2. Fry the paprika until they soften a bit
3. Add the tempeh and the rest of the marinade to the paprika and cook for about 15 minutes on a low heat with the lid on the pan

Serve alongside the marinated tempeh also 100 gr of cooked rice (pandan, basmati or brown rice for example). For this dish I like to serve pandan rice because all the flavors really come into their own right, but any other type of rice is fine!

Makan, makan!