This recipe is also come from Central Java Province, Indonesia. Bacem started as a process to preserve food. The main ingredients to make bacem food/preserved food is tempeh or tofu. Bacem food is sweet, but you can feel the slight savory taste behind the sweetness.
Cut the tempeh into 1-1.5 cm thickness. Next, chop the red onion and garlic finely.
Place all the ingredients at once in a pot and bring to a boil in medium heat.
Stir slowly and do it periodically to prevent burn. Make sure that the ingredients are not wrecked when you do the stir.
The boiling time is around 1 hour or until all the water dissolves.
Turn off the heat and take the tempeh from the pot. You can serve it immediately by deep fried it or preserved it in refrigerator for future consumption. It can last up to 4 days in refrigerator.
Notes
The cooked proteins contained lasts much longer compared to the uncooked ones, and bacem food can be stored in the fridge for future consumption (up to 4 days). You can eat it after boiled, or fried (frying the bacem will add crispness outside and tenderness inside). It’s also a perfect match for rice.