Dakota’s Tempeh Mendoan with Sambal Kecap
Tempeh mendoan is a traditional tempeh recipe from Central Java, and hands down my favorite for many reasons. It is simple, delicious, and shows off all the best features of tempeh while being friendly to most diets (and it’s a great finger food)!
Tempeh mendoan consists of locking the earthy, nutty flavors and moisture from the fermentation process within a layer of savory batter giving it an amazing hybrid texture that is soft and fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside.
I made a point to learn this mendoan recipe from my teachers and street vendors in Yogyakarta, and have many fond memories of biting into piping hot mendoan slices while sitting at the angkringan (street food carts) after a night out trawling the streets with friends. Throw in a little kecap manis or sweet soy sauce or sambal dipping sauce into the mix and ADUH!!! you have the ultimate comfort food.
Serves: 10
Active time: 35 minutes
Total time: 5 minutes
Batter + Tempeh Ingredients
3 packs 10oz reculture tempeh
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tbsp rice flour
1 bunch scallions
1 1/14 cups water
2 1/2 tbsp salt
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 gallon cooking oil
Sauce (Sambal Kecap) Ingredients:
6 tbsp sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
2 bird’s eye chilies
1 lime
7 cloves garlic
Instructions
Heat enough oil in a pot/frying pan for deep frying.
Slice tempeh into thin rectangles, just less than 0.25 inches thick.
Score the tempeh using a knife or scoring tool.
Slice scallions into small thin rounds.
Puree 5 cloves garlic, coriander powder, salt.
Combine all all-purpose flour, rice flour, pureed garlic mixture, and sliced scallions, water in a mixing bowl and stir, make sure to remove all the lumps until there is a thick yet still fluid batter.
Once the oil is ready, dip each slice of tempeh in the batter and deep fry until crispy (roughly 6 minutes) flipping slices halfway through. Remove onto wire rack or paper towel.
In the meantime, mince thai chilies, 2 cloves garlic and mix with sweet soy sauce and squeezed lime half to make dipping sauce.
Plate with dipping sauce, dip and enjoy.
