Tempe Tumis Sapi (Fried Tempeh with Beef )

The origin of Tempe / Tempeh is still considered a mystery until now. Some believe that Tempe is invented by Javanese. The record of Tempe is found in one of ancient Javanese Literature called Serat Centhini that's written in 16th century.

Other records also show that tempe might be produced using black soybeans before 16th century by Javanese Rural Community in Mataram.

The word tempe probably came from Javanese Ancient Word "tumpi".

But some also believe that Tempe was first introduced by Chinese immigrants who came to Java. They introduced 3 recipes made from soya beans called Tofu, Tom Ping, and Toya. Tom Ping is Tempe itself.

Enough the story, whether Tempe originally came from Java or China, It's an undeniable fact that Tempe is an Indonesian Traditional Food. And Indonesians eat most of the tempes in the world :)

Ingredients:

250 g tempe, chop into pieces
150 g beef, boil until softened and dice
50 g green chilies, chop into 1cm size
25 g red chilies, chop into 1cm size
100 g tomato, tear into pieces
6 shallots, slice
3 cloves garlic, slice
1 salam leaf
1 cm galangal, crush
250 cc water
5 tbs kecap manis
1 tsp salt

How to:

1. Heat oil in a frying pan. Fry garlic until brown, add shallots, green chilies, red chilies, salam leaf, galangal and tempe.
2. Add beef, tomato, water, kecap manis and salt, stir fry until the soup evaporate.

Reference:
http://indotempe.com
http://zumaladwi.blogspot.com/2008/06/original-of-indonesian-traditional-food.html

Recipe source:
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/miho/selamatmakan/recipe/menulisteng.htm#zensai

Image source:
http://rucheechesse.wordpress.com/category/kuliner/