Tempeh Saturday w/ the Indonesian Embassy

I spent my Saturday satisfying my taste buds with Indonesian cuisine. :)

We all thought we'd be spending the morning talking about post-war Philippine politics when Prof. Dagdag announced that we'll be cutting the class short to attend the "Philippines-Indonesia Culinary Festival" organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia and Sahabat Indonesia Club with the help of our UP Asian Center.

Ahimsa Soekartono, socio-cultural section head of the Embassy

Asian Center acting dean Dr. Carolyn Sobritchea

But the greatest suprise came when it was announced that the contestants would be the audience members! Of course my bibbo classmates volunteered and I was happy enough to document the adventure.

Prof. Dagdag and his Angels: Kira, Ann, Vani, KC and Jing

It was like Iron Chef with the mystery ingredient as tempeh. Iron chef without master chefs of course. Peace! Food trivia: Tempeh is Indonesia's local meat substitute. It is a soy-based product that is often mistaken as tofu. A fermentation process binds soybeans into a cake-like form (though it was a little harder than meat).

Tempeh broken down into smaller pieces.

The contestants were required to make two dishes: adobo using tempeh and the traditional Indonesian tempeh mendoan. Before that, they had to gather needed supplies.

The cornucopia of Indonesian food supplies.

Ann and Vani in the lead for food supplies :)

Disclaimer: Since I'm with the Dagdag's Angels, you can expect a lot of pictures featuring them. :)

ROUND 1: time to cook adobong tempeh! (First ever daw...)

Group 1 - Dagdag Angels

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Final product:

Group 1 - Dagdag Angels

Group 2

Group 3 or 4?

Group 3 or 4? (Sorry low quality phone pic, low bat na din ang camera)

Before the second round, representatives from the Embassy gave a demo on how to make tempeh mendoan. Food trivia: Tempeh Mendoan is made of thin half-fried pieces of tempeh. Its taste is similar to that of okoy/ukoy. You could also distinctly taste the slightly nutty tempeh.

I loved the ones they made.

ROUND 2: Tempeh Mendoan

Indonesian mortar and pestle

Birthday girl Kira

Anne's request of a solo shot :)

Final product:

Group 1 - Dagdag Angels (we made a really spicy sauce :)

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

The verdict of the judges?

Well, let's just say we didn't get the top spot.

Their "golden Oscars" :p

Nevertheless, we had so much fun, learned a lot about Indonesian food and had free lunch. :)

Really spicy veggies, beef something...have to ask for their names.

PS 202 classmates (aka Dagdag Angels plus support group): Cris, Jing, Kira,
Ann, Tine (me). Not in picture: KC, Vani, Sharon, Leli and Elaine