Tempeh, or tempe in Indonesia, is my favorite food. Tempeh which is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form is the original food from Indonesia.
Tempeh's fermentation process and its retention of the whole bean give it a higher content of protein, dietary fiber, and vitamins.
Fresh tempeh contain nearly 19% protein, 12.5% carbohydrate, and 4% fat. Its protein is almost comparable with the protein in meat which is about 21%, with the quality is only slightly below the quality of the protein in meat.
The soy protein in tempeh becomes more digestible as a result of the fermentation process. It makes tempeh not only suitable for adults, but can also be given to groups of children who experience indigestion. And pressence of fungal filaments (micellium) in tempeh increase its fiber content.
Although 100% made from vegetable foodstuffs, tempeh contain vitamin B12 which are usually found only in meat and milk. B12 deficiency can cause symptoms of anemias.
Tempeh is also known to lower cholesterol in blood so it can reduce the risk of heart disease due to narrowing of blood vessels.
Tempeh also contain active compound isoflavones. From the study, isoflavones can act as an antioxidant that binds free radicals hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Free radicals are things that cause cancer.
Besides the good things mentioned above, what makes me really like tempeh is easily available and cheap. With price only about 30 cents i could get about 400 gr tempeh. Tempeh is easy to cook too. In fact i often eat fresh tempeh.
When i was actively weight training, tempeh is one of my protein source, in addition to eggs and skim milk. I often make juice from tempeh with added palm sugar (called gula jawa or 'javanese sugar' in indonesia).
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For more information about tempeh, you can visit the following sites:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempeh
- http://www.tempeh.info/
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