| Make your own Tofu |
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Tofu can be made at home using dried soya beans.
Making homemade tofu is easy, but will take a couple of hours.
You don't need a special tofu press, but you will need a large stockpot
and some other common kitchen equipment
Makes 850g (30oz) tofu
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Equipment:
large 30cm (12") stockpot of around 20 litres (36 pints) capacity
1 litre (2 pint) measuring jug
large colander
large mixing bowl
large muslin cheesecloth, 60cm x 60cm (2ft x 2ft)
liquidiser or blender
sugar thermometer (optional)
wooden spoon
large plastic tubs for storage
Ingredients:
500g (1.1 lbs) dried soya beans (soy beans)
3 teaspoons nigari (culinary magnesium chloride)
4 litres (8.5 pints) water, plus 2 litres for soaking
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| Click on the photos to enlarge. |
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Put 500g dried soya beans in a large stockpot
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Dried soya (soy) beans can be bought from wholefood stores. Use organic beans where possible.
Metric bags are usually 500g which is around 1.1 pounds, but you can use a 1 pound bag with the same quantities of water and nigari - the quantities are fairly flexible. |
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Add two litres of water and soak overnight
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Pick over the beans and remove any bad ones, then add 2 litres of water and soak overnight, or for 8 hours. |
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Soaked beans double in size
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The beans will turn from round to oblong during soaking, and double in size. |
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Drain then rinse beans in clean water
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Pour away the soaking water and rinse the beans in fresh water. Drain and transfer to a large bowl. |
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Soaked beans weigh approx 1.2kg
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The beans will have more than doubled in weight - the drained weight will be around 1.2kg (2.6 lbs) |
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Liquidise in 4 batches with 1 litre water each time
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Divide the beans into 4 batches and liquidise each batch with 1 litre of water, letting the machine run for 3 minutes each time to grind the beans well.
You can use a liquidiser or a larger food processor, but only blend a quarter of the beans at a time
If you are using a 1 lb bag of beans, use 2 pints water for each batch |
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Place a colander over the stockpot, line with muslin
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Scald a muslin cheesecloth with boiling water and wring dry, then use it to line a large colander placed over the large stockpot. |
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Strain through muslin into stockpot
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Strain each batch of the liquidised beans through the cheesecloth, and capture the liquid in the stockpot.
Each batch will take ten minutes to drain through
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Thick pulp will remain in muslin
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Add the remaining batches one at a time without removing the residue from the muslin. You may need to stir the pulp to keep the straining going. The pulp will get thicker towards the end. |
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Squeeze muslin tightly to get all the liquid
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When all the beans are strained, twist up the muslin and squeeze the pulp tightly to get as much liquid as you can. |
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The squeezed pulp is now 'okara'
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The pulp with all the liquid removed is called 'okara' and is a tofu by-product.
Okara is high in fibre and still has plenty of protein too. |
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Save okara, cover and store in fridge
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Save the okara for use in okara recipes.
THE OKARA IS UNCOOKED - IT MUST BE COOKED BEFORE BEING EATEN - SEE FOOTNOTE.
Keep the okara in the fridge and use within two days.
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Bring liquid 'soya milk' to the boil, simmer 10 minutes
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The liquid that was strained into the pan is now soya milk (soy milk).
Bring the liquid to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
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Turn down heat if liquid foams up
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When you boil the soya milk it will foam up - this is why you need a big stockpot.. |
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Skins of 'yuba' will form - stir back in
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While simmering, skin will form on top of the soya milk. This is how 'yuba' is made - the skins can be taken off with a chopstick and dried.
Stir the soya milk to break up any skin that forms. |
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Cool liquid to 80C (176F)
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Turn off the heat and allow the liquid to cool for 5 minutes.
For best results use a sugar thermometer to check when the liquid has cooled to 80 Celsius (176 Fahrenheit) |
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Add 3 teaspoons nigari to 100ml water
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Take 3 rounded teaspoons of nigari crystals and add them to 100ml water (0.4 cups, 3.3 fluid ounces).
Stir the nigari to dissolve. |
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Add nigari solution and stir once
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Add the nigari solution to the soya milk and stir just enough to mix it in. |
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Liquid will coagulate - split into curds and whey
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The liquid should immediately coagulate - split into large curds and watery whey. |
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Leave 10 minutes for curds to set
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Leave the curds for 10 minutes (no longer) to firm up a little. |
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Line colander with clean muslin
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Line the colander with the freshly scalded muslin, this time over the sink. |
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Drain curds through muslin, discard whey
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Pour or ladle the curds and whey into the muslin and allow the whey to drain away. |
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Gather curds in muslin and squeeze
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Gather up the muslin and twist together, to squeeze out some of the water, then lay the twist flat in the centre of the bundle. |
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Weigh down muslin to squeeze out water
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Weight the wrapped curds with bowls of water or similar - the more weight the firmer the tofu. Leave to press for 15 minutes. |
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Pressed curds become a block of tofu
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Unwrap the muslin to reveal a large round block of tofu.
If you have a tofu press you can use this instead of the colander to do the pressing - which would give you a square block of tofu. |
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Cut tofu into four quarters
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Cut up the tofu into smaller blocks. Quartering will give you four blocks of around 200g (7 oz) each |
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Tofu yield is 800 to 1000g
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Depending how much water you press out your tofu yield will vary between 800g and 1kg (1.7 to 2.2 pounds). |
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Store tofu in water, refrigerate
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Store the finished tofu in water and refrigerate. Use within a week. |
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Cooking Okara
Uncooked soya beans shouldn't be consumed. The easiest way to ensure okara gets cooked is to use it in recipes that are oven baked. Bake for 30 minutes at medium-high heat. You don't need to cook tofu before eating it, as the soya milk was boiled for 10 minutes as you made it.
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