INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

equipment: a 2.5 gallon soup pot a colander cheesecloth or a muslin bag
(1.5 ft X 1.5 ft) a blender (food processor)
soak the beans overnight in plenty of water. do NOT heat at all during this
step...it doesn't work! drain the beans and cover with boiling water. place
1.5 c beans (use a slotted spoon) in the blender and start processing. add
1 c boiling water to the mixing beans through the top of the blender.
puree, then pour into your soup pot (to which you've added 2 cups of water
which has already been brought to a boil). process the remaining beans in a
similar manner till all the puree is added to the pot. bring the puree to a
boil (careful here: the puree will boil over FAST (anyone ever made beer?
same thing!) so stir constantly and do not turn your back once it starts to
steam at all. as soon as it's been brought to a rolling boil, reduce heat
to a simmer, cover and simmer for ~ 30 min. stir as necessary to prevent
the bottom from burning (it'll give the product a burned flavor!).
meanwhile arrange a colander in another big soup pot (about 1.5 gal is
convenient at this point) and line with your cloth bag. when puree has
cooked, remove from heat and pour into the bag, collecting the resulting
milk. (this is messy and not as easy as it sounds; remember the liquid is
HOT; if you have the patience, let the liquid cool before doing this, or
add some ice (~ 4 c wouldn't be unreasonable). squeeze the remaining liquid
out of the fiber left in the bag (BTW- the fiber also has a name and is
used in asian cooking. i won't get into that though). Pour a cup of cold
water into the bag to rinse out the last of the milk. repeat if you wish.
the strained liquid is your soymilk. the less water you use in the process,
the richer the milk, but the harder it is to work with, and the less you'll
end up with. reserve as much of the milk as you wish for drinking/cooking.
the rest can be converted to tofu.
hopefully you've kept track of how much water you've added to this point.
(about 10 c to the cooking point, maybe 4 more to strain...if you've
removed some milk you need to figure out approximately how many cups of
beans were used in the milk, and how many cups were allocated for the
remaining tofu. dilute the milk down to about 22c water for 10 c beans (i
think, i should double check this, but again, it doesn't make that much of
a difference anyway!) bring the watered-down milk to a boil (stir, stir,
stir!) and remove from heat. dissolve the epsom salts (or other curdling
agent (there are lots to choose from!) ) in about 1 c water. pour about 1/4
c into the hot liquid and stir well. cover and let rest for ~ 5 min. take a
look then and see if the curds have started to settle out. if not add
another quarter cup of salty solution. stir gently and let sit ~ 15 min.
when all the curds have settled and the whey is a clear yellow (not milky
any more!) gently pour off the whey through several layers of cheesecloth
(or muslin). gently pour the curds into the cloth, and drain. gather up the
cloth around the curds, and set a heavy weight on top of the bundle for ~
15 min. this is your tofu! once it has been pressed, transfer to a
container with water to cover and refridgerate up to a week. change water
daily for freshness.
i've found several books that publish this process. one i know is The Book
of Tofu. sorry i can't be more specific on the references, but just check
out your library or interlibrary loan...you'll find it, i'm sure. the
process may even be listed on the web, just test those search engines!
it's a bit of a tedious process, but it's like making fresh bread for me; i
find it rewarding, and relaxing. try some fresh soymilk from an asian
market first to see if you like the taste...it's very different from those
processed soymilk products. i think you can flavor it with sweetener and
vanilla to approximate the commercial products.
happy tofu/soymilk making to all. feel free to email me with questions!
Posted to fatfree digest V97 #039 by Unlisted <THYME@OREGON.UOREGON.EDU> on
Mar 27, 1997

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