Culture: Look for tempeh spores at an Indonesian grocery store or find them online. You only have to buy it once because it’s easy to make your own tempeh starter.
Fermenting Container: Tempeh needs to be spread out in a 2 cm thick layer in a vented container for fermentation. If you plan on making a lot of tempeh invest in a plastic container, otherwise, use a plastic bag. Use a pushpin to poke holes at 1 cm intervals so the container/bag is properly vented.
Incubation: Tempeh needs to be incubated at around 85-90 F. I use a folding fermentation box(affiliate link) for all my heated ferments. Other options include: incubating in the oven with the light on, near a radiator or a hot water heater. You could use a dehydrator set to the right temperature. The only trick is to measure the temperature after 12 hours, because tempeh starts to create heat as it ferments.
Steaming Tempeh
Raw tempeh is creamy and delicious. The mold is reminiscent of Brie or Camembert. Fresh tempeh needs to be eaten with 3-5 days, because the mold will continue to grow, even in the refrigerator.
Generally tempeh steamed before eating. Steamed tempeh will last for a week in the fridge or it can also be frozen for up to three months. Steam tempeh either in whole blocks or cut into smaller chunks for 20 minutes. You can steam in a steaming basket or in a metal colander over a pot of boiling water.
Here’s a close up of freshly steamed sunflower seed tempeh.
Sunflower seed tempeh is a delicious and nutritious soy-free tempeh. It is great keto-friendly vegetarian and vegan protein substitute. It is firm enough for a stir-fry, barbecue, or eat it fresh.
Bring the sunflower seeds to a boil and simmer until the seeds are soft (about 1 hour).
Drain the sunflower seeds and allow them to cool to just above room temperature.
Mix the vinegar with the sunflower seeds (to lower the pH so that unwanted bacteria won’t grow).
Sprinkle on the tempeh starter and mix well.
Spread the sunflower seeds out in the fermentation container (or plastic bag.)
Incubate at approximately 88 F (31 C).
Check the seeds after 12 hours. At this point the mold will have started to grow and the tempeh will start generating its own heat. Depending on what you are using for incubation, you may need to lower the temperature.
The tempeh will be done sometime between 24 and 48 hours. It’s done when the mold has thickened the sunflower seeds into a single dense mass. (There might be some grey or black mold spores too, but you want to stop incubation before there’s too much mold spores.)
Refrigerate for up to 1 week.
Notes
Black and gray spots may appear on the tempeh. These are the mold spores, and they are completely edible. The tempeh should smell nutty, mushroomy, and it might have a hint of ammonia. I have never had a tempeh failure, however, if your tempeh smells bad, is mushy or slimy then throw it out.
In general, it is tastier if you stop fermentation before the tempeh starts to spore. However, if you want to save mold spores for future batches, you can find instructions here.
See the sections above for more information on the type of container you should use for tempeh, and how to maintain the right temperature.
Feel free to make tempeh out of pumpkin seeds using the same instructions. If you want to try sesame seeds, then only add a small amount to your batch of sunflower seed tempeh.
Gallery image with caption: Lentils, Chickpeas and Bean Tempeh – Soy Free & Delicious
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Gallery image with caption: Pickled Nasturtium Seeds: A Delicious alternative to capers
Gallery image with caption: How to cook tempeh: BBQ, stirfry, salads and more
Gallery image with caption: Tempeh Noodle Salad with lime, ginger and sesame dressing
Gallery image with caption: Vegan Reuben Sandwich with Tempeh
Comments
Jonathan
This is a very helpful blog. I see somewhere you wrote that the fermentation needs air (or something like that). If I ferment in a cooler box, but keep the cooler box sealed for insulation to maintain the temperature, will that give the spores enough oxygen? I guess the cooler box is about 30litres so there will be plenty of air – it just won’t be circulating.
Tempeh doesn’t need circulating air, it just needs to breathe. The cooler should work, especially if you take the lid off to check the temperature. It will start to heat up as it ferments, so you might not need the lid at all towards the end. Good luck!
I haven’t tried it. But why not? Just boil them like sunflower seeds to get rid of the surface molds. Walnuts are soft like sunflower seeds. Let me know how it goes!
Boiling toned down the walnuts, they give a slight nuttiness to the pink beans I used. Quite good and something that won’t be in stores. Nothing like playing with your food.
Hi there- excited to try this out! I’m wondering how I would add in a marinade to the process so as to end up with a nice marinated tofu that I can then freeze or store in the fridge. Thanks
I would simmer pumpkin seeds in exactly the same way, then add sesame seeds for the last 5 minutes. The sesame seeds won’t stand up to longer boiling, but they need to be sterilized. You don’t want to accidentally grow some other sort of mold with your tempeh.
In your soybean tempeh post you noted that the fermentation of the soybean in tempeh makes it a complete protein. Does fermenting sunflower seeds or garbanzo beans into tempeh make those a complete protein too? Thanks!
The fermenting improves the absorption of nutrients from the sunflower seeds. They are a very good source of iron, but they do not have all the amino acids to make a complete protein. If you want to make a complete protein, make sunflower seeds and navy beans tempeh. Or serve sunflower seed tempeh with a grain.
This is a very helpful blog. I see somewhere you wrote that the fermentation needs air (or something like that). If I ferment in a cooler box, but keep the cooler box sealed for insulation to maintain the temperature, will that give the spores enough oxygen? I guess the cooler box is about 30litres so there will be plenty of air – it just won’t be circulating.
★★★★★
Tempeh doesn’t need circulating air, it just needs to breathe. The cooler should work, especially if you take the lid off to check the temperature. It will start to heat up as it ferments, so you might not need the lid at all towards the end. Good luck!
Emillie
do you know of anyone adding nuts to tempeh? I’m feeling a batch of adzuki with crushed walnuts coming soon.
★★★★★
I haven’t tried it. But why not? Just boil them like sunflower seeds to get rid of the surface molds. Walnuts are soft like sunflower seeds. Let me know how it goes!
Boiling toned down the walnuts, they give a slight nuttiness to the pink beans I used. Quite good and something that won’t be in stores. Nothing like playing with your food.
★★★★★
Great! Thanks for sharing. I’ll definitely have to try it sometime.
Hi there- excited to try this out! I’m wondering how I would add in a marinade to the process so as to end up with a nice marinated tofu that I can then freeze or store in the fridge. Thanks
You can marinade it after you finished fermenting and steaming it. Sunflower seed tempeh is my favourite. So nutty and delicious!
Hi Emilie, if I want to add raw sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds, do I need to boil them too?
Thanks!
I would simmer pumpkin seeds in exactly the same way, then add sesame seeds for the last 5 minutes. The sesame seeds won’t stand up to longer boiling, but they need to be sterilized. You don’t want to accidentally grow some other sort of mold with your tempeh.
Sounds yum!
In your soybean tempeh post you noted that the fermentation of the soybean in tempeh makes it a complete protein. Does fermenting sunflower seeds or garbanzo beans into tempeh make those a complete protein too? Thanks!
The fermenting improves the absorption of nutrients from the sunflower seeds. They are a very good source of iron, but they do not have all the amino acids to make a complete protein. If you want to make a complete protein, make sunflower seeds and navy beans tempeh. Or serve sunflower seed tempeh with a grain.