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Chickpea and sunflower tempeh

10/18/2020

I was sooo happy to see channa dal returning to my local store.
Chickpea tempeh is my favourite, especially with the added crunch of sunflower seeds.
Channa dal is basically chickpea splits, like other split peas they have no skin so make tempeh making a lot easier and save all the time spent rubbing off skins.
The process varies slightly
Soak as usual, then boil until just becoming soft, should be al dente!
Watch and check often, they can cook in as little as 15 minutes.
Spread on a cloth to steam dry.
Place in a bowl and add sunflower seeds (1/2 cup per block) and innoculate and ferment as usual
That's it!

1. Soaked 2. Cooked and drained 3. Innoculated
4 Into dish 5 Ready to refrigerate 6 Cooled and cut, ready to cook

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Red Oncom experiments continue!

9/14/2020

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I have spent the last week experimenting with the red oncom starter, with some interesting results! I took careful notes and used an extra thermometer to check the air temperature inside the fermenter.
The first batch was made with fresh okara from 275gm beans, in tandem with a batch of soy. The okara had been let steam dry in its dish after making the soy milk. I used 4gm oncom starter and 2 teaspoons cider vinegar, half mixed in, half sprinkled on top.The heater was set at 30C. By 8pm the air temp was only 20C so I reset heater to 34C. 24hours later, the rhizopus was ready and a small amount of white fungus was seen on the oncom. I had compressed half the okara and this is where there seemed to be activity.

After 36 hours the oncom developed green spots. It didn't smell unpleasant but looked pretty strange!
Off to the compost!

Experiment 2: the okara had been dried off in an open dish in the fridge overnight.
Again, 4 gm starter and 2 tsp vinegar. Made sure the air temp in fermenter was 27C before putting dish in. Lid on but vented. Took 6 hours for air temp to reach 30C. 6 hours later, some sign of sporulation but at 18hrs no further change, removed lid till 24 hours had passed...no change... not even green spots! Again to compost.

CONCLUSION: I think that using the okara warm and fresh helped, the okara from the fridge took a long time to heat through. My feeling is that 30C air temp might be too cool for red oncom. Seems to work better when okara is pressed into dish with less air spaces
Next time I make tofu, I will try again!

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