Preparation tempeh

Tempeh, or tempe in some literature, is made by fermenting dehulled and cooked soybeans with mold, Rhizopus sp. Freshly prepared tempeh is a cake-like product, covered and penetrated completely with white mycelium, and has a clean, yeasty odor. When sliced and deep-fat fried, it has a nutty flavor, pleasant aroma, and crunchy texture, serving as a main dish or meat substitute. In recent years, tempeh has been found to provide some health benefits, including antimicrobial and antioxidant effects and protection against diarrhea (Hachmeister Fung, 1993 Nout Kiers, 2005). 

Preparation. Traditionally, soaked, hand-dehulled and briefly boiled soybeans are inoculated with small pieces of tempeh from a previous fermentation, wrapped in banana leaves which also serve as a source of inoculum, then left at room temperature for 1-2 days. 

Such traditional soybean foods as tofu (soybean curd) and tempeh have little flatus activity (42). In the case of tofu, oligosaccharides are presumably eliminated during the course of its preparation, and, in the case of tempeh, enzymes produced by the mold (Rhizopus) during fermentation probably hydrolyze the oligosaccharides. As might be expected because of their low carbohydrate content (< 1%), soy protein isolates are devoid of flatus activity (43). It follows that textured meat analogs made from isolated soy protein are most likely free of flatus activity. 

Chitin and chitosan have been recommended as potential feed and food additives because of their useful functional properties. Though officially not approved for use in foods in the U.S., some aminopolysaccharides are part of the traditional diet of Eskimos as well as being present in different Oriental foods such as tempeh, sufu and even aged beef (5). In the nonpurified form, chitin is present in oyster shell powder which is used in animal feed as a source of calcium. Glucosamine, the monomeric unit of chitosan is used extensively in oral pharmaceutical preparations. 

Tempe (in literature also spelled as tempeh ) is a sliceable, cake-like product made of dehulled cooked soya beans, penetrated and fermented by a mixed microbiota dominated by filamentous fungi (Nout Kiers, 2005). Tempe is used as a side dish with rice as a staple. It can be prepared in many ways (Shurtleff Aoyagi, 2001b). 

Nakajima, N., Nozaki, N., Ishihara, K., Ishikawa, A., and Tsuji, H. 2005. Analysis of isoflavone content in tempeh, a fermented soybean, and preparation of a new isoflavone-enriched tempeh. JBiosci Bioeng 100, 685-687. 

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