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Tempoyak Recipe: Malaysian Fermented Durian and How to Cook With It

By Updated 2 min read

Discover tempoyak, Malaysia’s extraordinary fermented durian paste. This complete guide covers its Malay cultural roots, the unique fermentation science, how to make it at home, and how to cook with this intensely flavored probiotic condiment.

At a glance

Tempoyak is fermented durian from Malaysia and Indonesia: durian flesh with about 2% salt, fermented at warm room temperature (about 27°C) for 4–6 days until sour, then refrigerated. Lactic acid bacteria such as Lactobacillus plantarum and Fructobacillus durionis dominate. It's cooked into dishes like masak lemak tempoyak; cook it, since Listeria and S. aureus survived 8–12 days in tempoyak in a study.

  • Durian flesh plus about 2% salt, fermented about 4–6 days at 27°C.
  • Lactic acid bacteria reach 10^8–10^9 per gram; Lb. plantarum group dominates.
  • Fructobacillus durionis and Leuconostoc lead early; Lb. plantarum takes over later.
  • At 15°C the pulp barely ferments; at 40°C the aroma suffers.
  • Listeria and S. aureus survived 8–12 days in tempoyak – use it cooked.

Ferment profile

Origin
Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Kalimantan
Fermentation
Lactic acid
Main microbes
Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, Fructobacillus durionis, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Levilactobacillus brevis
Live cultures
Depends on preparation
Alcohol
None / trace

Tempoyak is fermented durian: ripe durian flesh mixed with a little salt and left in a closed container for several days until it turns sour and pungent. It’s made in Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Kalimantan and used as a cooking ingredient rather than eaten on its own – most famously in masak lemak tempoyak, fish or prawns in a turmeric and coconut-milk gravy soured with tempoyak, and in sambal tempoyak.

What Turns Durian Sour

Durian flesh is rich in sugars, and lactic acid bacteria take over quickly. In tempoyak bought from Malaysian night markets, lactic acid bacteria reached 108.4–109.2 per gram and no other microbes came close; the sugars had dropped and lactic and acetic acid had risen. Strains of the Lactobacillus plantarum group dominated, alongside Lb. brevis, Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Lb. fermentum (Leisner et al., 2001).

A later study followed the fermentation over time: the fructose-loving Fructobacillus durionis – named after durian – and Leuconostoc mesenteroides led at first, and Lb. plantarum took over towards the end (Chuah et al., 2016). In tempoyak from Kalimantan, Indonesia, Lactobacillus made up about 90% of the bacteria (Murwani et al., 2024).

Temperature and Timing

Researchers at Universiti Putra Malaysia mixed durian pulp with 2% salt and held it at 15, 27 and 40°C for 10 days. At 15°C very little changed. At 27°C the pH and sugars fell, lactic and acetic acid rose, lactic acid bacteria peaked around day 3, and the aroma held up better than at 40°C; tempoyak fermented at 27°C was judged ready to eat between days 4 and 6 (Wasnin et al., 2014). That’s the basis for the recipe card below: 2% salt, warm room temperature, about 4–6 days, then the fridge.

Cook It

Tempoyak is acidic, but that doesn’t make it sterile. When researchers added food-poisoning bacteria to tempoyak, Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus survived for 8–12 days (Chuah et al., 2016). The traditional dishes simmer it, so use tempoyak cooked – in a curry, a fried sambal or a grilled marinade – and keep the jar in the fridge. Eaten cooked, it’s a flavoring rather than a source of live cultures.

Using Tempoyak

  • Masak lemak tempoyak: fry pounded shallots, chilies and turmeric (or fresh turmeric leaf), add coconut milk and 2–3 tablespoons of tempoyak, then simmer fish, prawns or vegetables in it until cooked.
  • Sambal tempoyak: fry chilies, shallots and anchovies or belacan, then stir in tempoyak and cook it through.
  • Grilled fish: spread tempoyak and chili paste on fish, wrap in banana leaf and grill.

Frozen durian pulp works if fresh durian isn’t available. Other strongly flavored Southeast Asian ferments include fish sauce and tapai; for the basics of salt and lactic fermentation, see our troubleshooting guide.

Recipe: Homemade Tempoyak (2% Salt)

Makes
About 500 g
Hands-on
15 min
Fermentation
4–6 days at about 27°C
Salt
2% of the durian's weight (10 g per 500 g)
Temperature
About 25–28°C (77–82°F)
Difficulty
Easy

Equipment

  • Clean glass jar with a lid, about 750 ml
  • Clean spoon
  • Scale

Ingredients

  • 500 g ripe durian flesh (seeds removed; thawed frozen pulp works)
  • 10 g salt (2% of the durian's weight)

Method

  1. Weigh the durian flesh and mash it lightly with the salt in a clean bowl, leaving some texture.
  2. Pack it tightly into the clean jar, pressing out air pockets, and leave about 2 cm of headspace.
  3. Close the lid loosely and keep at about 25–28°C. Open briefly once a day to release gas and press the surface down with a clean spoon.
  4. Taste (with a clean spoon) from day 4: it's ready when clearly sour and pungent, usually by day 6.
  5. Close the jar and refrigerate. Use it cooked within a few weeks.
  6. Discard the batch if it grows fuzzy or colored mold or smells rotten rather than sour.

Frequently asked questions

What is tempoyak?

Fermented durian: durian flesh mixed with a little salt and left for several days until sour, used as a cooking ingredient in Malaysia and Indonesia.

What does tempoyak taste like?

Sour, pungent and fruity – durian with a sharp lactic tang. It's strong on its own, so it's cooked into coconut-milk curries and sambals.

How long does tempoyak take to ferment?

About 4–6 days at around 27°C with 2% salt. It barely ferments in a cool room.

Is tempoyak eaten raw?

It's mostly cooked, and we recommend cooking it: pathogens such as Listeria and Staphylococcus aureus have survived for over a week in tempoyak in lab tests.

Can I use frozen durian?

Yes. Thaw it fully, weigh it, add 2% salt and proceed as with fresh durian.

How long does tempoyak keep?

Keep it in a closed jar in the fridge and use it within a few weeks. It keeps getting more sour.

Is tempoyak probiotic?

Raw tempoyak is full of lactic acid bacteria, but because it should be cooked, treat it as a flavoring rather than a probiotic food.

Sources

  1. Leisner JJ et al. (2001). Identification of lactic acid bacteria constituting the predominating microflora in an acid-fermented condiment (tempoyak) popular in Malaysia. Int J Food Microbiol 63(1–2):149–157. Link
  2. Chuah LO et al. (2016). Physio-chemical, microbiological properties of tempoyak and molecular characterisation of lactic acid bacteria isolated from tempoyak. Food Microbiol 58:95–104. Link
  3. Wasnin RM, Karim MS, Ghazali HM (2014). Effect of temperature-controlled fermentation on physico-chemical properties and lactic acid bacterial count of durian pulp. J Food Sci Technol 51(11):2977–2989. Link
  4. Murwani R et al. (2024). Lactic acid bacteria isolates and the microbiome of cincalok, tempoyak, and mandai: a traditional fermented food from Kalimantan Island, Indonesia. Int J Food Sci 2024:6589766. Link
#Southeast Asia
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