Tempe Penyet 🌶

This week, we are celebrating Indonesia's 75th Independence Day so every day we will be posting Indonesian food! To kick things off this Tuesday, we bring you the Tempe Penyet. Some of y'all call it Tempeh but in Indonesia, we call it tempe. I'm not 100% sure what 'penyet' means but I think it means smashed? This dish has so many varieties but one of the most famous ones is Ayam Penyet and that is when you slow cook chicken, fry it, then smash it with a hard rock or a pestle and mortar. It is quite spicy I'm not going to lie but it is sooo tasty and it truly celebrates the Indonesian flavours and #TempehTuesday. Give it a try if you like spicy food or want to elevate your tempeh cooking.

Serves: 3 or 4 people as a side dish

Difficulty: Level 1

Chilli factor: ⭐⭐️⭐️⭐

Ingredients

• 200gr tempeh block mine was from Plant Power

• Sea salt

• Oil for frying, I used rapeseed oil

For the Sambal Penyet:

• 3 large red chilies

• 5 bird's eye chilies

• 2 tomatoes

• 3 garlic cloves

• 2 banana shallots

• 1.5 Chicken stock cube block

• Sea salt

• 1tbsp dark brown sugar

Instructions

1. Slice your tempeh into 1cm to 1.5cm thick slices. Lay them out on a plate or chopping board and sprinkle some sea salt on them.

2. Now let's deal with your Sambal Penyet. Roughly chop chillies, tomatoes, garlic cloves, and shallots. Tip all of this into your food processor and blend well into a paste.

3. Once that is done, heat up 1tbsp of oil in a frying pan. Once hot, add your sambal paste, chicken stock cube, sea salt & dark brown sugar to taste.

4. Fry until the sambal paste thickens and there is not much liquid left. Once this is done, set aside.

5. In a separate frying pan, add 1tbsp of oil and fry your tempeh slices, adding more oil if needed.

6. The tempeh is ready when both sides are nicely golden and slightly brown.

7. Now add some of the sambal penyet into the frying pan and mix well.

8. Serve with some fresh coriander if that's your jam!