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Journey To Java's 'Tempeh Village': Where Soybean Cakes Are Born
Tempeh is a mildly fermented soybean cake common in the Indonesian diet. Production starts with the washing and husking of beans.
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Rebecca Davis
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NPR
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Tempeh is a mildly fermented soybean cake common in the Indonesian diet. Production starts with the washing and husking of beans.
(
Rebecca Davis / NPR
/
NPR
)
Soybeans are then boiled in industrial-size barrels. In Kebun Jeruk, a village in west Jakarta, Indonesia, a cooperative of more than 1,400 local households produces nearly 2 tons of tempeh daily.
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Rebecca Davis / NPR
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NPR
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Once boiled, the beans are combined with yeast and cassava starch, shaped into bricks and laid out to ferment on drying racks for 18 hours.
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Rebecca Davis / NPR
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NPR
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Mr. Hendoko manages the Kebun Jeruk cooperative, which produces nearly a third of Jakarta's tempeh.
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Rebecca Davis / NPR
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NPR
)
Tempeh, with its meaty, nutty taste, can be served in a variety of ways, from thick tempeh "steaks" to thinly sliced, deep-fried crackers. Hendoko says that with proper marketing, "in 20 years' time, tempeh will conquer the world."
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Rebecca Davis / NPR
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NPR
)
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