Chef Joost
Acar Ketimun (Indo-Dutch Cucumber Pickle)
Acar means pickle, ketimun means cucumber, and this little bowl of sweet vinegar, chilli, and crunch is the cool note that lets an Indo-Dutch rijsttafel keep its balance.
Culinary Explorer
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Tempeh Goreng
Created by
A Javanese soybean cake, a Dutch colonial table, and one honest pan of hot oil: tempeh goreng proves the Indo-Dutch side dish can be both spare and generous.
Side Dishes
Dutch
Dinner Party
Weeknight
Special Occasion
15 min
Active Time
12 min cook•27 min total
Yield4 servings
The first time I understood the Indo-Dutch table properly, it was not at a rijsttafel with silver warmers and too many small spoons. It was at a weeknight table where one dish of rice, one vegetable, one sambal, and a small heap of tempeh goreng did the work of a feast. But let me tell you a secret: the little fried side dishes are often where the meal speaks most clearly.
The name already tells you the method. Goreng means fried in Indonesian, plain as a kitchen instruction, and tempeh is the Javanese fermented soybean cake that Dutch cooks learned through Indonesia and then carried home through memory, migration, and the toko, the Indonesian-Dutch food shop. History and cookery, they cannot be separated. In the Netherlands, tempeh goreng sits comfortably beside boiled potatoes in one house and next to sambal goreng boontjes in the next, because Dutch food has never been as sealed off as outsiders like to imagine.
What matters here is dryness. Salt the tempeh lightly, let the surface lose its dampness, then fry the slices until the edges go nut-brown and crisp under your teeth. Finish with ketjap manis, the thick sweet soy sauce, only at the end, because sugar burns before wisdom arrives. Hou het altijd simpel: crisp tempeh, a dark glossy coat, and a bowl passed around the table before anyone starts making speeches.
Tempeh is a Javanese fermented soybean food, documented in the nineteenth-century Serat Centhini, the encyclopedic Javanese text compiled at the court of Surakarta around 1814. It entered Dutch home cooking through the colonial Dutch East Indies and became especially visible in the Netherlands after Indonesian independence, when Indo-Dutch families, repatriates, and toko shops made ingredients like tempeh, ketjap manis, and sambal part of ordinary Dutch pantry life. Tempeh goreng shows how the Indo-Dutch table preserved Javanese technique while adapting to Dutch weeknight cooking: few ingredients, clear method, and a side dish with more history than its size suggests.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
tempeh
Quantity
250g
sliced into thin rectangles
fine sea salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
water
Quantity
2 tablespoons
garlic clove
Quantity
1 small
finely grated
neutral oil
Quantity
250ml
for frying
ketjap manis
Quantity
2 tablespoons
sambal oelek (optional)
Quantity
1 teaspoon
lime juice or rice vinegar (optional)
Quantity
1 teaspoon
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| tempehsliced into thin rectangles | 250g |
| fine sea salt | 1/2 teaspoon |
| water | 2 tablespoons |
| garlic clovefinely grated | 1 small |
| neutral oilfor frying | 250ml |
| ketjap manis | 2 tablespoons |
| sambal oelek (optional) | 1 teaspoon |
| lime juice or rice vinegar (optional) | 1 teaspoon |
Equipment Needed
- •Small heavy frying pan or wok
- •Tongs
- •Wire rack or kitchen paper for draining
Instructions
- 1
Slice the tempeh
Cut the tempeh into thin rectangles, about 4mm thick. Too thick and the middle stays soft before the outside browns; too thin and you get chips instead of a side dish. You want a firm bite with crisp edges.
- 2
Salt and dry
Stir the salt, water, and grated garlic together, then rub this lightly over the tempeh slices. Lay them on a plate for ten minutes, then pat them dry. This small wait matters: damp tempeh hisses in the oil and browns sulkily, while dry tempeh fries clean and crisp.
If your tempeh tastes bitter raw, steam the block for ten minutes before slicing, then cool it and continue. Some supermarket tempeh needs this politeness. - 3
Fry until crisp
Heat the oil in a small heavy pan over medium-high heat until a corner of tempeh sizzles at once. Fry in two batches, turning once, until the slices are deep golden at the edges and feel light when lifted, about three to four minutes per batch. Drain on a rack or kitchen paper.
- 4
Glaze with ketjap
Pour off the frying oil and wipe the pan if crumbs have darkened. Return the tempeh to the pan over low heat, add the ketjap manis and sambal if using, and toss for thirty seconds until the slices are thinly lacquered. Do not cook the ketjap hard; its sugar turns from generous to bitter very quickly.
- 5
Serve at once
Taste and add a few drops of lime juice or rice vinegar if the sweetness needs a little edge. Serve the tempeh while the edges still answer back under your teeth, beside rice, vegetables, or as one crisp dish among several on an Indo-Dutch table.
Chef Tips
- •Buy tempeh that smells clean, nutty, and faintly mushroomy. If it smells sour or harsh, leave it; fermentation is not permission for neglect.
- •Use ketjap manis, not thin Japanese soy sauce. Ketjap manis is thick, sweet, and dark, and it gives the tempeh its lacquered finish.
- •Fry in small batches. Crowding the pan lowers the heat, and then the tempeh drinks oil instead of crisping.
- •For a dinner party, serve it as one dish among rice, cucumber acar, sambal, and a vegetable. The Dutch word gezellig, convivial, was practically invented for tables with many small bowls.
Advance Preparation
- •Slice and salt the tempeh up to four hours ahead, then keep it covered in the refrigerator and pat dry before frying.
- •Best eaten just after frying. Leftovers keep two days refrigerated, but re-crisp them in a dry pan or hot oven before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 75g)
Calories
245 calories
Total Fat
16 g
Saturated Fat
3 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
13 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
540 mg
Total Carbohydrates
12 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
13 g
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