Crispy Tempeh with Sambal Sauce
By America's Test KitchenPublished on July 20, 2025
Time
40 minutes
Yield
Serves 4
Ingredients
Before You Begin
Lemon basil is traditional in Indonesia, but Thai and Italian basil are both excellent substitutes. If you can't find kecap manis, you can substitute a combination of 1½ tablespoons dark brown sugar and 1 teaspoon soy sauce. To make this fully meatless, you can omit the shrimp paste.Serve with rice.
Instructions
- Process 12 ounces stemmed, seeded, and coarsely chopped Fresno chiles; 1 small coarsely chopped onion; 5 peeled garlic cloves; 2 teaspoons shrimp paste, if using; and ¼ teaspoon table salt in food processor until finely chopped, about 30 seconds, scraping down sides of bowl as needed; transfer to bowl.
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. Set wire rack in rimmed baking sheet and line rack with triple layer of paper towels. Heat 1 cup vegetable oil in 14-inch flat-bottomed wok or 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat to 375 degrees. Carefully add half of the 1 pound chopped tempeh to hot oil and increase heat to high. Cook, turning as needed, until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Adjust burner, if necessary, to maintain oil temperature between 350 and 375 degrees. Off heat, using slotted spoon, transfer tempeh to prepared rack and keep warm in oven. Return oil to 375 degrees over medium-high heat and repeat with remaining tempeh; transfer to rack.
- Carefully pour off all but 2 tablespoons oil from wok. Add chile mixture to oil left in wok and cook over medium-high heat, tossing slowly but constantly, until darkened in color and completely dry, 7 to 10 minutes. Off heat, stir in water and 2 tablespoons kecap manis until combined. Add tempeh and 1½ cups fresh Thai basil leaves and toss until well coated. Serve.
Time
40 minutesYield
Serves 4Ingredients
Ingredients
Ingredients
Why This Recipe Works
Sambals are hugely popular throughout Indonesia. These condiment sauces, which can be served cooked or raw, are typically made from chiles, aromatics such as onion, fresh herbs, and spices. Shrimp paste is also frequently included for its funky, umami depth. Here, a mouth-warming but not exceedingly hot sambal makes an intensely flavorful sauce for coating cubes of tempeh—slabs of fermented soybeans beloved in Indonesia for their nutty, earthy flavor and dense, chewy bite. We started by using a food processor to quickly combine all the sambal ingredients, stopping when the mixture reached a pleasingly coarse texture. We then fried tempeh until it was golden brown and slightly crispy on the outside but still meaty-textured on the inside. Tempeh is often deep-fried for this preparation, but we found that a shallow fry in a cup of oil gave us similar results. We used a small portion of the remaining oil from frying the tempeh to cook the sambal, which partially tamed the fruity heat of the Fresno chiles and rendered the onion and garlic tender and sweet. Then, it was just a matter of tossing the crispy tempeh in the sambal sauce and stirring in plenty of fresh basil.
Before You Begin
Lemon basil is traditional in Indonesia, but Thai and Italian basil are both excellent substitutes. If you can't find kecap manis, you can substitute a combination of 1½ tablespoons dark brown sugar and 1 teaspoon soy sauce. To make this fully meatless, you can omit the shrimp paste.Serve with rice.
Instructions
- Process 12 ounces stemmed, seeded, and coarsely chopped Fresno chiles; 1 small coarsely chopped onion; 5 peeled garlic cloves; 2 teaspoons shrimp paste, if using; and ¼ teaspoon table salt in food processor until finely chopped, about 30 seconds, scraping down sides of bowl as needed; transfer to bowl.
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. Set wire rack in rimmed baking sheet and line rack with triple layer of paper towels. Heat 1 cup vegetable oil in 14-inch flat-bottomed wok or 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat to 375 degrees. Carefully add half of the 1 pound chopped tempeh to hot oil and increase heat to high. Cook, turning as needed, until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Adjust burner, if necessary, to maintain oil temperature between 350 and 375 degrees. Off heat, using slotted spoon, transfer tempeh to prepared rack and keep warm in oven. Return oil to 375 degrees over medium-high heat and repeat with remaining tempeh; transfer to rack.
- Carefully pour off all but 2 tablespoons oil from wok. Add chile mixture to oil left in wok and cook over medium-high heat, tossing slowly but constantly, until darkened in color and completely dry, 7 to 10 minutes. Off heat, stir in water and 2 tablespoons kecap manis until combined. Add tempeh and 1½ cups fresh Thai basil leaves and toss until well coated. Serve.
Gift This Recipe
Enjoyed this dish? Let others know by sharing it as a gift recipe.
Appears In
Key Equipment
Keep Exploring
0 Comments