Indonesian 'tempe' struggles to remove second-rate image
Indonesian 'tempe' struggles to remove second-rate image
By Sirikit Syah
SURABAYA (JP): There are hardly any Indonesians who have not taste tempeh. Even those living in the jungles of Irian Jaya or Kalimantan have consumed this food.
As long as there are Javanese people, who are said to be the creators of tempeh, the production and distribution of this food will continue.
What is so special about tempeh, a cheap and simple food made with fermented soybeans? According to Tri Susanto, a professor in food technology at the Agriculture Faculty of Brawijaya University in Malang, East Java, tempeh is an original Indonesian food which has many advantages.
"Tempeh adds amino acids, which are essential for the human body, has antioxidant and antibacterial elements, and reduces cholesterol," Susanto explained to The Jakarta Post, after a ceremony to mark his promotion to professor at the university last month.
In his scientific speech at the ceremony, he discussed strategies to improve the image of tempeh as an Indonesian food.
Saddened by many young people being more inclined to consume western fast food like burgers and fried chicken, Susanto has become very active as a member of a Jakarta-based organization to promote the consumption and development of tempeh.
He reminds people that popular western fast food lacks nutritional balance, while tempeh is a health food.
Oldest
Tempeh processing could be the oldest food technology in the history of Javanese people. Serat Centhini 12, a book published in the 16th century, indicates that tempeh had been produced and consumed by the time of its publication.
In Europe, tempeh is known through the Dutch who once colonized Indonesia. In America, tempeh has been known since 1946. In Japan, Kiku Mirata, a professor at Osaka University, has founded the Japanese Tempeh Society.
At the Soy-foods Center in California, U.S., there are 616 documents about tempeh. Some tempeh processing methods have been patented in the United States and Japan, and 423 tempeh commercial products have been identified.
There are about 100 companies in the U.S. and Europe producing tempeh until the second stage of processing -- like tempeh-based sausage, burgers and drinks. There are about 60 similar companies in Japan, which no longer concentrate on first or second generation tempeh products (like tempeh teriyaki), but now develop the third generation (like tablets, biscuits, enzymes, etc.).
In Indonesia, soybean consumption reaches 2 million tons per year, 1.4 tons of it (70 percent) is grown domestically and the rest is imported. Seventy percent is used for the production of tempeh, tofu, ketchup, and other processed foods. In the last 10 years, tempeh consumption in the city and village has increased from an average 0.075 kg/capita per week to 0.1 kg/capita per week, an increase of 134 percent.
Tempeh is a health food which containing complete protein, eight kinds of essential amino acids, antibiotic elements and growth stimulation, is high in vitamin B12, and low in fat and cholesterol. It is also easy to digest.
"Those who consume tempeh will look and stay younger and have long lives," said Susanto.
Because researchers and food industries do not spend money on promoting tempeh, the public is unaware of its benefits. Instead, people tend to degrade the food with sayings like bangsa tempe or mental tempe, meaning something bad, poor or cheap.
According to Susanto's research, there are too many standards and procedures of tempeh production in Indonesia. The variations make it difficult to develop the product into second or third generation tempeh, which would give tenfold added value.
Susanto suggests a strategy of first strengthening the basic domestic tempeh industry, especially raw material supply, improvement of processing technology, and development of more and better products.
"Tempeh crackers (kripik tempe) is a good example. But they could be more durable, more practical, and more attractive," said Susanto.
He hopes that young people like the traditional tempeh food such as tempe mendo and tempe bacem, besides hamburgers and fried chickens. But he feels it is more important to develop a passion for tempeh in the young generation by producing the second and third generation of tempeh -- which obviously looks more interesting than the first generation.