Making Tempeh For The Sake of Tempeh Sambal

In Indonesia, tempeh is a daily meal, but for me is a luxury that is not easily found.
I really like tempeh. In fact, genuine Kiwi husband likes. Moreover, my children. Lately, we missed the return of soybean sauce at the dinner table. However, looking at the Tempe area I like looking for a needle in a haystack. It's so rare, and can be impossible.
A few years ago, organic tempeh can still be found in a famous supermarket in Pukekohe. However, four years later I could not find a single one. Even in shops selling Asian food ingredients were not there.
In the past, we often buy organic tempeh made in a company in Auckland. It does not seem the same as the tempeh in the homeland, more acidic. The form was more rough and wet. One day I was downtown Auckland and visited a store on Hobson Street. I was surprised when the owner of the store said no stock tempeh in the freezer.
What? Frozen tempeh? Yes. Surprisingly, the same is true with the tempeh was sold in Indonesia. But, the price is very expensive. One organic tempeh board weighing about 120g valued $ 5.20 (USD 50 900) at the time, while the tempeh was given a price of $ 6.20 (USD 60 678). Imagine that! How luxurious tempeh. Since then, I declare intentions alone will make tempeh.
I first make tempeh own in 2008 and had me write in Homemades , my food blog. However, after I began a difficult search for soybeans and tempeh. At that time I only rely on the rest of tempeh shipment in the mail from a friend in Christchurch. When he returned to the homeland, I do not have information on where to buy soybeans and tempeh. Moreover, Asian grocery store in Pukekohe sometimes not as complete as in the center of town.
Finally, I can get from a friend who works in Auckland, that there is a shop in the North Shore area that sells Indonesian food ingredients, including tempeh. Since then, I routinely ordered food ingredients native to Indonesia over the phone. Tempeh and soy became my faithful stock in the pantry.
Making tempeh is not as difficult as I thought. While still at primary school, I used to help the deceased Grandmother tempeh wrap with banana leaves or leaf teak.
Grandma likes to use teak leaves as tempeh wrap and had even ventured to a place in Tanjung Enim, South Sumatra when visiting relatives, then went home armed with a large bag of teak leaves. When the leaves begin to rare teak, Grandma wearing banana leaves. He never wore plastic sodium absorption ratio as tempeh wrap. While due banana leaf rare here, I wear a ziplock plastic bag as tempeh wrap.
Constraints making tempeh lies only in the air temperature at my residence that often do not support, especially in the winter.
Meanwhile, tempeh need temperatures around 30 degrees Celsius for the fermentation process. First make tempeh, I use the incubator as a fermentation tank, then set the temperature at 30 degrees Celsius. The idea of wearing a pretty efficient incubator. Within 24 hours, tempeh is ready to be cooked.
Unfortunately, it is used as a tool incubator incubator chicks at our farm, so I can no longer wear. Because I can not rely on the room temperature is often fickle and do not reach 30 degrees Celsius, I use my oven which has the function of automatic low temperature for fermentation. The lowest temperature of my oven 40 degrees Celsius and will be maintained until the next day. I was worried it was too hot for the temperature for fermentation, but it turns out that I produce tempeh has a perfect spread of white mold.
Finally, our family can enjoy my homemade tempeh chili. Made with homemade tempeh, peppers and tomatoes are picked from the garden, as well as onions and garlic were harvested in mid-January. I also say, thank God ... feeling blessed!