Tempeh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views
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Matti Narkia on 09 Dec 09"Tempeh, or tempe in Indonesian, is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form. Tempeh is unique among major traditional soyfoods in that it is the only one that did not originate in China or Japan. It originated in today's Indonesia, and especially popular on the island of Java, where it is a staple source of protein. Like tofu, tempeh is made from soybeans, but tempeh is a whole soybean product with different nutritional characteristics and textural qualities. Tempeh's fermentation process and its retention of the whole bean give it a higher content of protein, dietary fiber, and vitamins compared to tofu, as well as firmer texture and stronger flavor. Because of its nutritional value, tempeh is used worldwide in vegetarian cuisine; some consider it to be a meat analogue. The soy protein in tempeh becomes more digestible as a result of the fermentation process. In particular, the oligosaccharides that are associated with gas and indigestion are greatly reduced by the Rhizopus culture. In traditional tempeh making shops, the starter culture often contains beneficial bacteria that produce vitamins such as B12[1][2] (though it is uncertain whether this B12 is always present and bioavailable[3]). In western countries, it is more common to use a pure culture containing only Rhizopus oligosporus which makes very little B12 and could be missing Klebsiella pneumoniae which has been shown to produce significant levels of B12 analogs in tempeh when present. Whether these analogs are true, bioavailable B12, hasn't been thoroughly studied yet.