Make your own fermented pulses

Pulses are a cheap source of plant-based protein and other nutrients, including B vitamins, iron, and calcium. But they are difficult to digest, cause intestinal discomfort and contain anti-nutrients. Fermentation removes these disadvantages. TopCultures produces and sells tempeh starter and other starters to make fermented pulses.

tempeh starters
Tempeh starter
natto starters
Natto starter
oncom starter
Oncom starter

Tempeh is a traditional soy food from Indonesia. It is made using a fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake, similar to a veggie burger patty. The fermentation of the soybeans really brings out their nutritional value. It also has an earthy flavour and a firm texture. It’s extremely tasty and is used around the world as a meat analogue. If you are vegetarian or vegan, you should consider this food. Natto is a traditional Japanese food made by fermenting soybeans with Bacillus natto. It contains some very healthy ingredients such as vitamin K2 and nattokinase.

What do you need?

To make tempeh, you need whole soybeans, a tempeh starter and some vinegar. Although tempeh is traditionally made from soybeans, it can also be made from other legumes such as black beans, lupins and peanuts. Natto is made from soybeans and a natto starter. No other ingredients are needed.

Our quality

Factories buy tempeh starter from us because they value its high quality and consistency. Our starters are reliable and guarantee them a high success rate in their production process. Our tempeh starter allows you to make perfect white tempeh with lots of healthy mycelium. Our natto starter contains Bacillus natto strains that produce high levels of vitamin K2 and produce beautiful strings. We have a laboratory where we produce our own starter using high-tech processes such as freeze-drying to ensure high levels of viable spores. We can guarantee quality every time. More importantly, we can guarantee safety. Our production process and laboratory are routinely monitored, inspected and approved by the local health authority. In addition, our tempeh starter and natto starter are kosher certified.