The Book of Tempeh: Professional Edition

This book is an authoritative deep dive on Tempeh. It is referenced in many other books and studies. It tells a lot about the tempeh making process, different type of tempeh, etc. It is very helpful if you want to make your own tempeh, and gives you a lot of information about what to expect, and how to prepare it, about the edibility of over and under done tempeh, and how to use it, the history of tempeh, etc. (It fails to mention that tempeh bongkrek, coconut tempeh, if contaminated, can be extremely poisonous, and kills many people annually. As far as I can tell, other types of tempeh are pretty safe. This is something I think people would want to know before they start experimenting. ) The book has some confusing but interesting information about tempeh as a great vegan source of vitamin B12. B12 is extremely high in tempeh made in Indonesia because of contamination of the tempeh. Unfortunately, tempeh made in the US is not particularly high in B12, as it lacks this bacterial contamination. Thus the authors are actually speculating about making tempeh a great source of B12 at some future date. This was somewhat disappointing, as as far as I can tell, this has not yet happened. The book is somewhat problematic as a tempeh cookbook, as many of the recipes require Indonesian ingredients which are not readily available. It turns out that Indonesian recipes also usually involve deep fried tempeh, although the authors offer alternatives which they say are not as good. I agree, they aren't, although I still use the alternatives. I wonder how an air fryer would work, but don't have one. It looks like the original book was written in 1941, long before air fryers. Because of the age of the book, it is hard to know whether one can rely on some of the statistics they give about soy and world hunger. This was written well before GMOs, and expensive organic soybeans. There are some good recipes in the book which can be made from readily available ingredients, such as coriander and garlic crisp tempeh. That recipe involves a basic preparation technique, which is simple and may be worth the price of the book. I am happy to have the book, but would not recommend it to the average person who just wants some tempeh recipes and does not plan to make the tempeh themselves unless they live near an Indonesian grocery store.

This is a very comprehensive treatment of the subject of tempeh. I recommend it to anyone who is thinking of making it at home. While you spend time on the parts about how tempeh is commercially produced in Indonesia, the information is there if you want to read it. The pen and ink sketches are really good and add a lot to the book. There is also a section on how to make your own tempeh starter, and one on how to make tempeh at home, including information on what kind of beans you can use. Plenty of recipes, too, both Indonesian and Western style. If you want to build your own incubator (as the inoculated beans generally have to be kept within certain temperature limits for about 24 hours), the book even tells you how to rig up a simple heating system. Personally, I prefer to use a large styrofoam container, such as those you may find at picnics, filled with ice and soda cans (But get one with a lid), supplying it with a wire cake rack to hold two 1-quart-sized ziploc bags, and keep the inoculated beans warm with hot water in a couple of jars placed under the rack, with a few quilts over the whole thing at night when the weather is cold. Buy some starter powder and a simple aquarium thermometer on Amazon or elsewhere, and you are all set! The more you make tempeh, the faster it becomes, and I love checking on its progress the last 8~12 hours as it begins to produce its own heat and gradually turn into much more than a bag of loose beans.

It's not what I expected. It's detailed in the history of tempeh. I thought there were going to be recipes and nice pictures to follow along in the process. There are pictures but they are hand-drawn and not the best quality. It's an okay book, I guess. I just wouldn't recommend.

I came from Indonesia, "tempeh country". For me tempeh is my food, I ate since maybe I could eat solid food. Very common, people never thought how to make tempeh. You always can buy anytime and cheap. When I moved to America, I didn't find tempeh like I always ate and fresh..with the smell so nostalgic. My husband found in library THE BOOK OF TEMPEH (same author)and I learned how to make tempeh from that book. I did...then now, I confident enough to say, my tempeh is really good. Because all my friends in here says...my tempeh different and taste better. Thanks Bill !!!!! So, we have plan...in our retire live in Mainland (maybe countryside PA) we will make tempeh company. I bought this book and my husband said, very clear the explanation about machine, room, etc. Recommended if you want to make your tempeh store.

Excellent item arrived right on schedule!

This is thorough in all respects: history, nutrition, recipes, instructions for home growing/making tempeh. Especially of interest to me is the appendix on the microbiology of how Rhizopus oligosporus transforms the soybean substrate. Be sure to get the "Professional" edition (which is the same price) as it contains a bunch of useful and informative appendices. The only lacuna here is that of Internet resources. Well done!

very detailed on how to make lots of different kinds of tempeh

A bit overly helpful and less than simple to follow. Good for those who like to know EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING...