A Canadian cooks a tempeh dish in Indonesia

Even though tempeh is an Indonesian staple and originates from here it doesn't seem to be found in the small local stores and markets.
I was hoping that when I was here I would be able to make my own. I found soybeans, but for the price, it wasn't worth it. Tempeh is made from soybeans. Why are soybeans so expensive in a place where tempeh iso popular?

I bought a couple of bricks. I find that the tempeh here is far better than some of the ones at home. It doesn't have that tempeh smell and taste that it often does. At least not in my experience so far.

It's really easy to make tempeh. Why do I know that? Because I worked in a tempeh factory in Canada.

If you have the spores or tempeh starter, which can be ordered online (which I've never done) you just soak soybeans overnight and boil them until they are soft enough to squeeze with your fingers, but not mushy, then depending on how much you have, you will add the appropriate amount of spores.

You need to drain them so they are dry. Some people say you have to remove the hulls but we never did at the factory. I have heard that you can use raw tempeh to make more tempeh by adding this to soybeans.

While at the supermarket I omitted certain purchases such as veggies so that I could go to the local market on the corner this morning, and get veggies. This market is not great at all but you can't spend ten dollars there if you try.

They were packed up and gone at eight am. Sometimes they're around until noon. I was empty handed so knowing that I had already purchased a few greens for salad, assured me that at least I would have some greens in my lunch.

I stopped at a store which has next to nothing and purchased a random item which appeared to be made out of peanuts and the ingredients checked out as vegan. It is what they use to make some of their satays. I used it for the tempeh.

I wasn't all that sure how to turn it into a sauce so I added water, soy sauce, lime juice, coconut cream, and blended it.

Since the market was closed, I had nothing left but carrots, onions and garlic. I did have the salad greens to save the day.

I tried to recreate a Indonesian- ish kind of tempeh dish with the added bonus of the ramdom purchase.

While I was waiting for things to cook, I made a quick melon and cucumber salad to go with lunch. Probably not the best food combination but I am not an extreme health nut right now. It didn't do any damage though.

When I was staying in Mexico, I made this quite often.

When the tempeh dish was done I added some greens which included hydroplonic arugula and leafy lettuce, dressed with tahini dressing. I need my greens.

At the end of it all it tasted much like the dishes we have had here in Bali.

I never thought before that I would be cooking tempeh dishes in the country that it originated from.

Thanks for joining me for lunch!