Tempeh is a food made from fermented soya beans. It comes in the form of cake because of the growing mycelia of Rhizopus Oligosporus among the beans. For hundreds of years, it has been the main source of protein for people who live in the Indonesian archipelago. This group is created for tempeh makers, both amateur and professional, so they can share their knowledge and experiences.
In Indonesia, tempeh is called tempe (pronounced: tempay), and it is produced by cottage industries. After being fermented, the boiled soya beans become highly digestible. As a source of protein, tempeh is better and healthier than dairy products or meat because of its lower content of low-density cholesterol (bad cholesterol).
Indonesia, the origin country of tempeh, used to be a Dutch colony for three centuries; therefore, tempeh has long been known in the Netherlands. Tempeh was first introduced to the United States in the early 1950s when throngs of immigrants arrived from the Netherlands. Many of these immigrants were born in Indonesia, so they prefer to live in warmer areas such as Florida and California, hence the earlier availability of tempeh in America. I believe this high quality healthy food will soon be available in every corner of the world.
Many amateur tempeh makers still depend on inoculums for tempeh or tempeh starters from their suppliers. By sharing and working hard together, we will soon be able to make this crucial material for making tempeh by ourselves.
To all NEW MEMBERS, you are kindly suggested to open the Links and read 'How I make tempeh' by Peter Vachuska, Wisconsin, USA, and also open the Files to read Tempeh.pdf. If you want to propagate your tempeh starter, please read Rice-Grown Rhizopus oligosporus - Inoculum for Tempeh Fermentation in the Links; and Inoculum for Tempeh in the Files.

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