Kering tempe manis: sweet glazed deep fried tempeh with peanuts
This tempe recipe requires some understanding of deep frying, but it's worth learning the skill for this dish alone. The oil will be lovely and fragrant from frying the aromatics, which makes it perfect for salad dressings, noodle dishes (including noodle soups), and more once it's cooled down. You can enjoy this tempeh as a snack or as a main with rice.
Ingredients
- Vegetable oil for deep frying
- 200 grams tempeh cut into approximate half inch pieces (sliced 4-5 millimeters thick)
- 35 grams thinly sliced shallot
- 4 cloves garlic thinly sliced
- 75 grams peanuts
- 40 grams soft palm sugar
- 15 grams galangal, thinly sliced pounded to a rough paste with a pestle and mortar (a heaped tablespoon after pounding)
- 15 millilitres tamarind concentrate 1 tablespoon
- 3 grams table salt scant ½ teaspoon
- ½ teaspoon coriander seeds toasted and ground
Instructions
- Line a large plate with a few layers of kitchen roll. Heat a few inches of oil to medium high in a wok and begin to fry everything in batches, starting with the tempeh. Remove from the oil with a mesh skimmer and drain on the kitchen roll when it browns lightly and becomes crispy.
- Turn the heat down to medium and fry the shallots next, until lightly browned and crispy. Remove to the kitchen roll. The garlic goes into the oil next. As soon as it begins to brown, remove it from the oil immediately and pop on the kitchen roll with the tempeh (the garlic will cook quickly). Lastly tip the peanuts into the oil and fry until they are a few shades darker. Dip the peanuts out and pop them next to the other bits to drain.
- Pour all but around a teaspoon of the oil into a heatproof container. With the heat on medium-low, fry the pounded galangal until aromatic (around a minute) Then add the palm sugar, galangal, tamarind, salt, and ground coriander. Stir to combine and simmer until the sugar melts and the sauce is shiny and bubbling (2-3 minutes).
- Tip in all the deep fried ingredients (tempe, shallots, garlic, and peanuts) and stir quickly to combine.
- IMO kering tempe is best after it's cooled down. It will also keep for several days, and if everything was deep fried until dry then it will also stay crispy.