Easily Make Tempeh At Home With... Your Own Body Heat?!
--New Series: Make Your Own Tempeh, fun tempeh facts, tips, tricks and creative ideas!! --
For a few months now, I have been to-tal-ly into making my own tempeh. I never liked shop-tempeh: boring, slightly bitter taste, weird texture.
But then I tasted tempeh a friend had made herself, and that tempeh's taste was delicious: nutty, umami. And the structure was crucnhy and goooood.
I went on a Tempeh Quest: what it is, how you make it, what you can do with it, and I can tell you: I went from one surprising discovery to the next... A little like Alice ending up in Wonderland -- Tempehland. In this new series I tell you all about making tempeh at home without an incubator, without plastic, how you can prepare tempeh so it tastes delectable, and many more things.
Let me take you by the hand and lead you along all the wonders I encountered in Tempeh-World. Do you like eating, vegan innovations, food for the future? Let's go!
Today: Easily Make Tempeh At Home With... Your Own Body Heat*
*Domingo Club sent me a Tempeh Necklace. I give you my honest opinion! I don't usually write in English, (you can read the Dutch version of this text here), but this product amazed me so much that I think as many people as possible should know about it. If you like what you read, please share! Thank you!!!
Tempeh Making and The Incubation Process
Making your own tempeh is relatively easy, but there is one condition you have to take account of: tempeh has to ripen for two days at a temperature between 28 en 37°C.
In Indonesia, tempeh's homeland where it was discovered long ago, this ripening process is peanuts, since the climate over there is tropical. But, what if you live in Europe or other colder regions, and you want to make tempeh during the winter?
In a future post I will discuss loads of creative solutions for easy and cheap DIY incubators. But today I will discuss the all time easiest, most efficient and cheapest of all methods ever: ferment tempeh with your own energy!
Your Body as an Energy Efficient, Cheap and Easy Incubator
While I was researching tempeh incubators, I kept thinking about body heat, since our body temperature is at 37°C – precisely the temperature that tempeh needs!
I was happy to find out that there actually already are Tempeh Pioneers who have made tempeh using their own bodies as incubators!
1.New-Zealand Diana Noonan mentions there are people who sleep next to their tempeh: Some fermenting fanatics take their bags to bed with them. :)
2.This (I think?) Belgian lady made tempeh by putting inoculated beans in a plastic bag with little compartments separated with rubber bands -- she tied it around her waist. .She mentions she kept the tempeh 'on' for 13 hours and even took it for a walk :)
3.The most surprisingly artful and even touchingly (I think) beautiful example of people who use body temperature to incubate tempeh is found at Domingo Club.
Two intensely creative Belgians: Maud Bausier en Antoine Jaunard set up the Barcelona based Domingo Club. It is their mission to promote plantbased proteins.
They believe real change starts with our daily habits, and that an essential part of the solution for the climate crisis starts with sustainable food. That is why they develop tools so that everyone can easily make tempeh at home!
Besides many other wonderful projects concerning food -- be sure to check their website!! -- they have introduced a tempeh incubator machine, the Domingo Fermenter for tempehmakers in colder climates, as well as...
The Domingo Necklace, a jewel made out of sustainable and see-through materials, within which everyone can make a mini tempeh using only their own body heat!
You can order the necklace here:
https://domingoclub.com/products/domingo-necklace
The organisation MOLD published an interesting article about the Domingo Club and their fabulous fermenting-jewel:
https://thisismold.com/object/domingo-necklace-tempeh-fermentation
The Necklace, filled with inoculated beans BEFORE fermentation...
Domingo Tempeh Necklace
I tried out the Domingo Necklace!!!!
I am SO happy with the beautiful box Domingo Club sent me: an ecological cardboard box, containing:
-the tempeh jewel
-a bag of organic, non-gmo dehulled soy beans grown in Italy.
-a bag of tempeh starter: rhizopus, grown in Belgium!
-a booklet with detailed and easy to follow instructions
-I also received a fun sticker, a nice letter and a card!
The Domingo Necklace is produced in Barcelona -- it consists of a 3D-printed bioplastic encasement, a cotton string and two glass petri-dishes.
The bioplastic little moon with a tiny hole to scoop up the required amount of starter culture with...
'Every detail counts': the petri-dishes contain a bioplastic 'moon' with a double function:
1.You use it to measure the amount of dry beans needed: just scoop up as many dry beans as fit in the dish with the 'moon' in it.
2.With the hole inside the 'moon', you measure the amount of tempeh starter needed!
Ingenious!
Making Tempeh Using Your Own Body: How?
I will discuss in detail how you can make your own tempeh with or without the Domingo Necklace
in one of the next blogs in this series. It is not difficult to make tempeh once you know the steps. Domingo Club provides a leaflet with clear instructions. Today I only discuss the experience I had with the Domingo Necklace:
1.I boiled the amount of soybeans that was in the bag.
2.I dried the cooked beans with a clean towel.
3.Using the little 'moon' scoop, I measured the required amount of tempehstarter, and I mixed it with the beans.
4.I put the starter+beans mixture in the smallest petridish, fit the second petridish on top, and clicked both dishes into the bioplastic 'encasement'. Then I put the necklace around my head and put it under my pullover.
5.I wore the necklace for two days -- at night you can put it underneath your pillow: there's enough warmth there to keep your tempeh cosy.
My Experience
I found the idea of being able to 'grow' my dinner with my own energy a superfascinating idea. I also 'bonded' with 'my' tempeh: it was like caring for some sort of quiet pet (in reality for a gigantic amount of microscopically tiny benevolent organisms). Wherever I went, my tempeh followed: tidying the house, walking the dog through the cold, and at night the tempeh, too, 'slept' underneath my pillow. When it was ready, I almost missed it! I like the idea that I can easily grow a new mini tempeh burger whenever I want, with my own body heat...
The tempeh also tasted super nice!
Possible Disadvantages
-if all goes well, you get one tiny tempeh with one necklace at a time. But: also a small amount of tempeh contains an enormous amount of proteins and nutrients. This is concentrated stuff... It could be super fun to 'tempeh' with the whole family: everone creating their own personal dinner with his or her personal Domingo Necklace! An adventure that is endlessly repeatable, once you've acquired the necklaces...
-even a small amount of dry beans requires a relatively long cooking time: 40 to 60 minutes. Solution: cook the beans together with other food. Or use a steampan (they will be ready sooner, and this cooking process requires less energy).
-seen as you will get the best results when you were the necklace skin-to-skin, with some clothing over it (the incubation process requires heat and darkness), sadly, you cannot show off your necklace the whole time. Personally I felt a bit like Frodo The Tempeh Bearer in stead of the Ring Bearer: 'Keep it secret, keep it safe!'
-the petri-dishes are made of glass, and therefore they are fragile. Luckily the bioplastic encasement keeps them safe.
-Maybe you use a very strong perfume: when making tempeh using body energy, you better omit any strong scents...
Advantages
-with the Domingo Necklace you are able to create your own personal tempeh without any incubator, without any expensive technological machinery, and with your own body energy: I call that REVOLUTIONARY!
This is culture! This is what Sandor Katz calls starting your own edible revolution! This takes 'grow your own food' to an entirely different level!
-once bought, you can reuse your necklace indefinitely.
-the Domingo jewel is made out of bioplastic and so it is skin friendly: I'm allergic to metals, so I normally never wear any jewelry.
-the method is relatively foolproof: once you know how to do it, it is super. easy to make tempeh this way.
-so with the help of this necklace it is relatively cheap to make your own tempeh, which is much tastier than storebought tempeh.
-you can take your necklace anywhere you want to: from now on, you can make tempeh everywhere and anytime you want!
-to create your own tempeh in this way is very ecological: you grow a vegan protein source with your own energy...
-The Domingo necklace lends itself for all kinds of mini tempeh adventures, because did you know: you don't have to stick to just soybeans? In a future blog for this series I will discuss how you can also make tempeh from other legumes and even nuts and grains.
-the jewel is pretty, ingenious, practical, stylish, lightweight -- it is simply cool.
-even though it is best to cover it with your clothes, you can take out the jewel for a short time to show it off: what a great conversation starter :)
-it is excellent material for fermentation workshops
-a wonderful gift for every vegan, and for anyone who loves cooking, fermenting and experimenting in the kitchen.
-Domingo Club suggests sharing your Domingo Necklace with a loved one, so that you create a connection, just like the mycelium... In this way, just like the fine rhizopus threads, we create a sustainable network for a more ecological future...
Conclusion
I found this little tempeh experiment incredibly inspiring and I'm going to put this necklace to use many, many more times! While I was wearing it, I wondered: are there any more 'body incubated tempeh' possibilities?
Maybe someone some time soon will come up with tempeh wrist-warmers, shin-protectors, thigh-warmkeepers, tempeh push up bra's :) or even tempeh turtleneck sweaters? Tempeh 'baby' wrap carriers, or tempeh belly belts?
If you design or try out something similar, or if you have another fun tempeh-wear idea: please let me know!
I usually only write in Dutch, but I like the Domingo Necklace SO much that I now publish this text in English too -- you can read the Dutch version here. I just want to reach as many people as I can with this information that I find so very useful and important...
So feel free to share: thank you!!!
Maud en Antoine formulate it like this:
Making and eating Tempeh is the best solution we've found
1.To tackle the climate crisis
2.To fix our broken food systems
3.To eat nutritious, sustainable and affordable food...
At home.
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