Intermediate phase of the fermentation of a tempe(h), from adzuki beans in this case. When the mycelium, the roots of the fungi, have started to colonise the beans, but not yet completely. The tips of their branches start to touch, to connect. The mycelial network starts to feed on the beans, sharing its nutrients, breaking them down into smaller bits.
#tempeh #tempe #fermentation #fungi #simbiosis #mycelium #network #process
@domingoclub where did you get the spores from? also do you do anything special to manage humidity?
@sayyid_qishta Hey, we get the spores from Top Cultures and sell them in Barcelona, Spain. The humidity is maintained in the glass Petri dishe, which means we don't have to do anything special to control it, it has a high humidity level by default.
:pluralrings: 
@alienskyler what is keeping you from doing it?
you need tempeh starter to make tempeh, I started with the cultures for health soy free tempeh starter but eventually started using Raprimah tempeh starter that I think I ordered from eBay
it is supposed to have mold but you aren't supposed to incubate it long enough for the mold to sporulate, it won't taste good if it does
the mold forms mycelium, it's like growing mushrooms except without the mushroom part
in my brain I sort of think of tempeh as "mushroom beans" though
ironically I started making my own tempeh and invested in the supplies to do so before I had ever tried store bought tempeh
I made an incubator out of a styrofoam cooler and a seedling mat and temperature controller, I poked knitting needles through the foam to create a rack
I have actually never made tempeh with soy, only black beans and chickpeas
I tried making some with pinto beans but it didn't turn out. I think I overcooked them though. The beans absolutely have to be cooked al dente and dehulled (which you can do by pulsing in a food processor and then skimming off the hulls during cooking). Then you have to cool them to a certain temperature and add distilled vinegar and mix the spore starter with some rice flour and add that, then you can put them in plastic bags with holes poked in them. Although I found a way to use reusable containers by poking holes in both containers and lids of lunch meat containers. They also work great for sprouting mung beans with an intact container underneath!
It is this process that interests us in tempe(h). This ability of the mycelium to pre-digest our food, to make its nutrients more accessible to us, so that we can enjoy it fully.
It's such a beautiful process that we have access to, thanks to tempe(h) fermentation.