Tempoyak, the local fermented durian is well liked by the Malaysians and Indonesians as well. Whenever there are excess durians, people will make durian kueh and tempoyak.
![Tempoyak in plastic container](http://web.archive.org/web/20191012052003im_/https://malaysiavegetarianfood.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/signedtempoyakIMG_3101.jpg)
In Sarawak, tempoyak are sold at the market everyday. It tastes sour and salty with a lot of durian nutty flavour, great for cooking soup with tang hoon or glass noodles.
![Tempoyak soup with tang hoon and daun kesum.](http://web.archive.org/web/20191012052003im_/https://malaysiavegetarianfood.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/tempoyakIMG_4248.jpg)
Tempoyak soup with glass noodles
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tbs tempoyak
- 1 bundle of glass noodle,about 45 gm – soaked in water for 15 min.
- 500 ml water
- 1 dry chilli
- daun kesum
- 1 tsp of brown sugar (optional)
Method
- Slightly stir-fry tempoyak with a bit of oil in the kuali.
- Add in all other ingredients including the daun kesum, and boil for 3 min or until the noodles turn transparent.
- Do not add salt as tempoyak is salty by itself.
- Garnish with fresh daun kesum leaves.
This soup tastes great, with a faint aroma of durian and that exotic fragrance of daun kesum. It is sour and appetizing.
Another great dish with tempoyak is by stir-frying it with fried tempe.
![Tempoyak stir-fry with tempe.](http://web.archive.org/web/20191012052003im_/https://malaysiavegetarianfood.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/tempoyak3IMG_4259.jpg)
Tempoyak stir-fry with tempe
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tbs of tempoyak, mixed with 1 tbs of water
- 60 – 70 gm of tempe – cut into 1 cm cubes
- 1 tsp of brown sugar
- Red and green chillies, one each – sliced
- Cilantro or Chinese celery – 1/2 cup, finely chopped
- l tbs of corn oil
Method
- Lightly fry the tempe with 1 tbs of corn oil until the cubes turn brown. Dish out and set aside.
- Add in tempoyak and fry until it turns slightly brown and smell fragrant.
- Stir-fry the tempe and chillies with the fried tempoyak.
- Add in the cilantro and brown sugar.
A great dish of sour and sweet taste, very appetizing.
Finally, the big question – How to make tempoyak?
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 kg durian pulp (strained for 1 hr to get rid of excess water)
- 1 – 2 tbsp rock salt
Method
- Mash the durian pulp in a big pot.
- Mix the mashed durian flesh with rock salt.
- Cover the pot and keep the salted pulp at room temperature.
- Usually it will turn sour after 3 – 4 days. Once it turns sour, scoop the tempoyak into plastic containers and store in the fridge.
Tempoyak can last very long in the fridge.
Enjoy making your own tempoyak !
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