Kering Tempe - Kentang (Fry dried Tempeh and Potatoes)

Kering Tempe is a name of a side dish consisting of, of course, tempeh. There are other types of "kering" (means dry) dishes, such as kering kentang (potatoes), or kering teri (anchovies). Making them takes a great deal of patience, since you will have to deep-fry it for a quite long time with low heat. If you don't fry the tempeh (or potatoes or achovies) dry enough before, they  will turn flabby by the time you add the sauce. Many times in the past, i've tried to make it, with not so successful taste, nor crunchy enough. Until my mom explained to me the definition of "dry" for the tempe;  the tempe has to be really realy dry, (just a little bit dry won't be enough apparently). On my previous attempts,  i don't think that the recipes were delicious enough for my taste-bud. For me the perfect kering tempe would be very crunchy, sweet, salty, a little bit hot, and the tempeh is quite caramelized but light (in short : i am complicated!!!).

Many people find it difficult to make one. Too many great details for a successful kering tempe. People would prefer to buy (or to order) them to people specialized in it, but the price can be high for a packet of the delicious one (No wonder, it is time and energy consuming!).And then my friend, Dessi brought me the best kering tempe - kentang that i have ever tasted. A friend of her in Bandung made it, and it seems that she sells a lot of these during the end of Ramadhan month (many of the Indonesians serve this as a side dish during the holly day). And i noticed that  this kering was very generous with shredded kaffir lime leaves. She gave me the recipe... but then again, it is too complicated.

I am looking for a simple recipe and ingredients, thus not expensive in term of production...  without really forgetting the kaffir lime. If i follow her recipe i would end up staying in the kitchen most of the whole day, frying one by one each ingredient!! So i did a little bit of research, and in the end came out with my own formula. Mind you that i do not really use the exact measurement like usual, that is why i use cup as the unit this time (just to give you an idea).

Bare in mind that the secret of a succesful kering tempe is  the dryness of the tempeh and potatoes (fry them with very low heat until they turn very brown - but do not let it burnt). You need to slice them very thinly before frying them. The second secret is actually the thickness of the sauce added to the tempe. Not easy, but  be patient, keep practicing, the time will come when you eventually know how to make a well concentrated sauce, and how to recognize if your tempe and potatoes are dry enough...well, after several practices, i think i am successful in making kering tempe - kentang. 

Ingredients A:

• 400 gr of tempeh, slice thinly in small rectangulars. Deep fry, very dry until dark brown, set aside
• 1 big potatoes, peel, wash and slice VERY THIN. Soak for one hour in a stone lime liquid. Drain and deep fry, until dry and dark brown. Combine together with the fried tempe, and set aside, let in room temperature.
• 1 tbs fried peanuts (i bought a packet of grilled peanuts ready made in supermarkets, it tastes fine for me)

Ingredients B (sauce)

• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 3 big red chilli, sliced
• 1 cup of white sugar (most people use palm / red Javanese sugar, but i don't really like it as i find it too sweet and heavy thus will not caramelize enough the dish.
• 1 cup of shredded kaffir lime leaves
• 1 tbs of cooking oil
• 1 kaffir lime, let out the juice.
• 2 tsp of salt

Method:

1. Crush garlic and chilli together 
2. Heat oil in a large pan, sauté the garlic, chilli, kaffir leaves until fragrant. Add the salt and sugar. Stir, and add the kaffir juice. Reduce heat to low, and continue stirring until the sauce thicken and form bubbles. Continue stiring. Careful not to let the bottom burnt. If the bubbles do not form, it means it is not thick enough.Continue cooking.
3. Turn off the heat. Add the dry tempe, peanuts and potatoes, stir evenly. Taste it, does it need more salt? then let it cool at room temperature before transferring it into a closed container. The kering tempe  - kentang is good up to 2 weeks (aprox.... even i ate 1 month old kering tempe - kentang, and it still tastes good ).