I tried this recipe out and it was pretty good. It's got a more interesting flavour than the ones bought from the stalls because it calls for kaffir lime.
I didn't have time to take photo of this morning's bento because Hubs and #1 were arriving this morning after the two kids were sent to school and everything was a little chaotic. We had "Bak Kut Teh" for breakfast as soon as they touched down. Had to satisfy their desperate need for some local food!
Anyway, this recipe is for Mihoo. We had a little conversation about tempe and this is an interesting and flavourful dish. I didn't follow the recipe exactly because I didn't want to cook so much and I improvised. However the recipe I'm providing is exactly from the magazine.
Recipe:
Tempe Goreng Kering
(Tempe fried dry - direct translation from Bahasa Malaysia to English)
The combination of crunchy tempe and peanuts in a sticky, tangy sauce makes an excellent snack or accompaniment to rice (4 to 6 servings).
500ml cooking oil
100 g skinned peanuts
2 packets (300g) tempe, sliced thinly
3 shallots, sliced thinly
spice paste
80g tamarind paste, mixed with 150ml water to extract juice
150g palm sugar (I used brown sugar)
2 teaspoons salt
5 cm galangal, skinned and julienned (I didn't have this so I omitted it)
15 bird's eyes chillies, sliced (I used dried chillies)
15 kaffir lime leaves, sliced
To deep fry peanuts, tempe and shallots: Heat wok over medium heat. Add oil and deep fry peanuts until golden. Remove and drain on paper towels to absorb excess oil. In the remaining oil, deep fry tempe until crisp; remove and drain on paper towels. Fry the shallots until golden brown, remove and set aside.
To prepare spice paste: Remove most of the oil from the wok, leaving about 2 tablespoon. Add in tamarind juice, palm sugar and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil, add galangal, bird's eye chillies and kaffir lime leaves. Leave to simmer for 3-5 minutes or until mixture thickens.
To finish: Toss the fried peanuts, tempe and shallot crisps in the spice paste; stir until well mixed. Remove from wok and leave to cool. Serve as a snack or with white rice. This can be stored in an airtight container for about a week.
The final product.
Enjoy!
