Is Tempe a Healthy Food?

Tempe sold in Whole Foods Market in the USA

Tempe also called as “Tempeh” by Americans, and sold as an organic food by the Whole Foods Market across USA. The food getting popular as a protein source alternative for vegetarians recently. Tempe is a product of fermentation process to bind cooked soybeans into firm and dense of cake form.

You might know Tofu, the different that Tofu is made by coagulation process of soy milk, whereas Tempe is made by binding process of cooked soybeans. Tofu is China and East Asia (claimed by Japan and Korea too) origin, while Tempe is Indonesia traditional food for thousand years.

Slices of Tempe

Tempe contains protein, vitamin (vitamin B2), minerals (Zinc, magnesium, potassium and sodium) and probiotics. As a permented food, Tempe is believed could improve gut health and might promote to reduce weight gain.

Since less processed, Tempe is considered healthier than Tofu. In fact, Tempe contain more protein, vitamin and fiber than Tofu. In term of protein, Tempe has 2.5 times protein more compared to Tofu.

Tempe has less protein compared to chicken and meat. Of 4 ounces, Tempe, meat and chicken contain 21, 29 and 35 grams of protein consecutively.

Have you tried or bought Tempe?