Tempe

Tempe vs. Tahu?

Well, I totally agree with mom, many tofus are of shit quality, they're too sour, even though they're still fresh, but good tofus are always NICE.... Love it. Esp, Japanese silken tofu huahhhhhhhh, ato dibikin Sapo Tofu... My favs. are: tahu bacem, tahu kipas, mabo tofu.... does tofu-fa count (-> kembang tahu) hehehe...

But anw... we can find tofus like everywhere, but TEMPE? Most people never heard of it (they don't know what they're missing!) even some Singaporeans, Malaysians, Bruneians... DOH! Even though they DO have tempe in some of their food (usually some of their fellow countrymen wud correct them, "We DO have tempe, you know like in ....").

I remember asking my ex-boyfriend who was going on a trip to Amsterdam to find tempe, and I specifically told him where to get it from: Chinatown, even through some LJ user I found out where chinatown in Amsterdam is (near sth sth train station etc. etc.) and guess what? He didn't listen obviously, he just got the bit about "tempe" and went to every single DUTCH shop, patisseries, bakeries, etc... Then he texted, "Couldn't find your tempe hun" and I told him to go to Chinatown, and DOH there were plenty. He got me 2 blocks. I was estatic!!!

And when I went home this Easter I brought back one block of tempe too... but somehow they don't taste that nice, a bit sour, or perhaps they've gone BADDD? from the 13++ hours of travelling? Oh dear...

Best tempe experience... at Loro Djonggrang, a cross between Indon restaurant and an art gallery, ordered this "home-made" tempe which was recommended by the waiting staff, and boy oh boy was it good!!! It was just the juiciest tempe, you could really taste the soya beans.... the grains... it was rich in flavour, and although it was cooked with batter (sort of tempe mendoan style) the flav. of the batter didn't superimposed the natural fresh taste of FRESH HOMEMADE TEMPE, haha... seriously...

And it was also helped with fantastic presentation, and I really shud've taken more pics of the tempe hehehhee...

Got this tempe vs. tahu joke from some random googling:

Takkala temperatur terik terbakar terus, tukang tempe tetap tabah,

"Tempe-tempe", teriaknya. Ternyata teriakan tukang tempe tadi terdengar

tukang tahu, terpaksa teriakannya tambah tinggi, "Tahu-tahu-tahu!"

"Tempenya terbaik, tempenya terenak, tempenya terkenal!!", timpal

tukang tempe. Tukang tahu tidak terima,"Tempenya tengik, tempenya

tawar,tempenya terjelek!"

Tukang tempe tertegun, terhenyak, "Teplakkk...!" tamparannya tepat

terkena tukang tahu. Tapi tukang tahu tidak terkalahkan, tendangannya

tepat terkena tulang tungkai tukang tempe.

Tukang tempe terjengkang tumbang! Tapi terus tegak, tatapannya

terhunus tajam terhadap tukang tahu. Tetapi, tukang tahu tidak

terpengaruh tatapan tajam tukang tempe tersebut, "Tidak takut!!!"

tantang tukang tahu.

Tidak ternyana tangan tukang tempe terkepal, tinjunya terarah, terus

tonjokkannya tepat terkena tukang tahu, tak terelakkan! Tujuh

tempat terkena tinjunya, tonjokan terakhir tepat terkena telak.

Tukang tahu terjerembab. "Tolong... tolong... tolong...!", teriaknya

terdengar tinggi. Tetapi tanpa tunda tempo, tukang tempe teruskan

teriakannya, "Tempe... tempe.... tempe...!

TAMAT

Golden Squash Soup

Okay, I promised you all, that this will be the last recipe entry for this weekend ;) Basically, after cooking curries for 2 straight nights, I feel kinda guilty and wanted to redeem myself, by cooking something healthy =) Found this great website which promotes healthy eating and as a side to the Thai green curry, I also cooked this golden squash soup ;)

I didn't use many of the spices mentioned in the original recipe, I found that the squash (labu kuning in Indonesia?) was naturally sweet.

So my version of the golden squash soup:

1 medium sized butternut squash, peeled and cut into cubes (the squash was really hard to peel, what an exercise! My friend mocked that it's "healthy" because of the exercise we do when peeling and cutting the fruit!)
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 cups chicken broth
200 g coconut milk (from can)

- Saute onion and garlic, then add the broth and the squash pieces. Cook uncovered for about 15 minutes until the squash is soft (and I mean, soft! Semi pulpy)

- Leave it to cool for around 5 mins

- Place some of the squash and broth into a blender, add a little bit of coconut milk and blend until smooth. Repeat til you've blended all the squash and broth in the pan.



- Bring back to a stove to reheat, and garnish with a sprig of mint/cilantro/coriander leaf.

=)

This soup is an excellent source of Vit A, C, manganate, and also a good source of fiber (one serving of it gives 20% of DV).