🍅TEMPEH MASAK MERAH🍅

Trying out some recipes just in case I want to introduce them to my friends in the US. This is a cooked recipe. So it’s more for Mr Jazz Guitarist.

I saw this one on YouTube by my friend Elliz of The Kampung Vegan and it looked good, so let’s see if I can make it in my Thermomix 🙂

I’m making it oil-free.

Masak Merah:

Blend -
5 red onions or shallots
6 cloves garlic
1 inch ginger
5 dried chilies, soaked (optional)
5 red chilies

1/4 cup vegetable oil or more
2 blocks tempeh, cut into strips and fried

1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
4 cloves
4 cardamoms
1 pandan leaf, knotted
3 stalks lemongrass, bruised
2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 yellow onion, sliced into rings
1/3 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup plant based milk
1 - 1 1/2 cup water
1 tbsp mushroom seasoning
Salt to taste
1 tbsp asam jawa or tamarind paste
1 tbsp coconut sugar

METHOD (taken from the transcript)
We need two blocks of fresh or frozen tempeh. Cut the tempeh in half, and then into thin finger strips. But any shape will work! If you don't like tempeh, feel free to use tofu, mushrooms or anything else.

Add a generous amount of oil to a pot and shallow fry the tempeh pieces.
You can also just coat the tempeh in oil and bake in the oven or in an air fryer.
Once the tempeh is nice and golden brown, let it drain on a paper towel and set aside.

Next get a blender and add in 5 pre soaked dried chillies. These are quite spicy so if you're not a fan, just skip it.

Roughly chop 5 red onions or shallots and add them into the blender with 6 cloves of garlic and a small knob of ginger.

For some mild spice, let's get 5 big red chilies. Chop roughly. If you need to remove the seeds to lessen the heat, you can.

Add all the chilies into the blender and blend into a smooth paste.

In the same pot that we fried the tempeh, toss in the same spices we used for the rice. Add more oil if you need to.

Pour the paste in and let it fry on medium heat.

Bruise 3 stalks of lemongrass and toss them in along with a knotted pandan leaf.

Cook until the paste starts drying up. Then pour in a bit of water and cook again until the water
evaporates. This is to ensure that the paste is thoroughly cooked through. Do this a few times.

This is a very common technique in Malaysian cooking. If enough oil was used in the beginning, you'll know when the paste is thoroughly cooked through when you can see oil start to separate from the paste, or pecah minyak.

Season with mushroom seasoning and salt to taste.

Let it simmer gently. Cut two tomatoes into rough chunks and add them into the pot. Stir to coat in the sauce.

We're also going to cut 1 yellow onion into rings and toss them into the pot as well.

Pour in 1 cup of water and let everything simmer until the tomatoes have dissolved and the onions have wilted.

Then we can sprinke in 1/3 cup of frozen sweet peas, and the fried tempeh.

Now let's add in 1 tablespoon of tamarind paste or asam jawa.

Taste as you go and adjust the flavour according to what you like.
We're also adding 1 tablespoon of coconut sugar.

This masak merah should be lightly spicy, but sweet with a hint of sourness to balance it out.

To round out all the flavours and to tie them together, add in 1/4 cup of plant based milk.

Mix everything together, let it simmer briefly and we're done!