Tempe manis
Crisp golden tempeh sticks and peanuts tossed in a sticky sweet soy and tamarind glaze, a beloved Indonesian side that makes a great dinner over rice.
- 40 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $3.07 a serving
- 750 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ cups jasmine rice
- 1 lb tempeh, 2 packages
- ¼ cup peanuts
- 3 shallots, thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 serrano pepper, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup kecap manis
- 1 tbsp tamarind paste
- 1 cucumber, sliced
From your pantry
- 2 cups water
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
Each serving has about 750 calories, 32 g protein, 92 g carbs and 31 g fat, and costs about $3.07 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No jasmine rice? Long-grain white rice or basmati rice works.
- No cucumbers? English cucumbers or mini cucumbers work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the rice and bring it in a with the water.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
High heat
Stir once, cover, turn the heat to low and cook 15 minutes, then leave it covered off the heat.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Cut the tempeh into sticks about ¼ inch thick and 2 inches long.
Dolly’s tip: Use your sharpest knife and press straight down. Tempeh crumbles if you saw at it.Heat the oil in a large over medium-high until it .
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Shimmering oil. Oil shimmers when it’s hot enough to cook: its surface looks rippled and wavy, like heat over a road. That’s your cue to add the food, just before the oil would start to smoke.
How you’ll know: The oil looks wavy and runs thin like water when you tilt the pan, with no smoke yet.
Medium-high heat
Fry half the tempeh 5 to 6 minutes, turning now and then, until deep and , then lift it onto paper towels.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Medium-high heatTimer: 5 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: Two batches matter. Crowded tempeh steams and stays soft.Repeat.
Medium-high heat
Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the oil. Fry the peanuts over medium 1 minute, until golden, and add them to the tempeh.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Add the shallots, garlic and serrano and cook 2 minutes, , until soft and golden at the edges.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Medium heatTimer: 2 min
Add the kecap manis, brown sugar, tamarind, salt and 2 tablespoons of water and let it bubble 1 minute, until thick and syrupy.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Dolly’s tip: Big, slow bubbles mean it’s ready. Past that, sugar burns quickly, so move on.Tip the tempeh and peanuts back in and 1 minute, until every piece is glossy. Turn off the heat; the turns sticky as it cools.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Glaze. A glaze is a thin, glossy coating, often sweet, brushed or spooned over food near the end. It adds shine and flavor, and because it has sugar, it can burn quickly.
How you’ll know: The food looks shiny and evenly coated, sticky at the edges but not blackened.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Serve over the rice with the cucumber on the side.
Dolly’s tip: In Indonesia it’s often eaten at room temperature. It keeps 4 days in the fridge.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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