Tempeh is such a wonderful product. You change something with hardly any taste (like soybeans) into something full of flavour. I love the nutty taste of fresh tempeh. Although you can make tempeh from all kind of produce (I tried chickpeas and buckwheat) the ones I have made of soybeans have the best taste.

The process starts by soaking the soybeans overnight. I bought hulled soybeans which makes the process more easy. I buy them from Naturaplaza. If you can’t get hold of hulled soybeans you need to remove as much skins as possible by snapping the soaked beans between your fingers. If about half of them are without the skin it will work fine.

Then you need to cook the soybeans, for about 45 minutes. They do not have to be completely cooked, it’s best to keep them a bit firm.

After cooking discard the water and let the beans cool until somewhere between 35 and 40 degrees Celsius. Then add a little bit of tempeh starter (a teaspoon is enough for about 500 grams of soybeans) and mix the starter well. Tempeh starter can be purchased online, I buy it from Starter Cultures.

Then put the beans in plastic bags (like IKEA ziplock bags) and pinch little wholes in the bags with a skewer. Instead of ziplock bags nowadays I use petri dishes, which works great. 

Now you need to leave them at 30 degrees for about 48 hours. You can do that in an oven (most modern ovens can do 30 degrees) or use a fermentation chamber. I know people making fermentation chambers from an old fridge, but you can also buy them. I bought one from Domingo Club which is a good choice. It’s actually an open source design. So if you are handy, you can build one yourself. 

Check the beans every now and them. You do not need to be afraid of any black spots on the tempeh (especially close to the wholes) these are the spores and it’s perfectly natural. Anything blue of green is a bad sign.

You can find a lot of recipes for tempeh dishes. I have noticed you get the best results when adding marinade after baking. Most recipes advise marinade first. So first bake them in a little oil until nice brown (somewhere around 10 - 15 minutes) and then add a marinade. My favourite marinade is a mix of soy sauce, sesame oil and gochujang.