Yeah, failed on the first attempt......

[Stasher]

Thanks for all trhe replies. Okay, now I'm mystified. Homemade tofu!?!?!?

[nickdutch]

Thanks for all trhe replies. Okay, now I'm mystified. Homemade tofu!?!?!?

1) Take soyabeans

2) soak them over night

3) Grind them with water in a blender

4) Put them through a nut milk making bag to squeeze out the raw "milk" (which is unsuitable for human consumption)

5) Bring to a boil scraping off the foam and skin like crazy for 20 minutes (its a bit of a chore)

6) Add "Nigari" or lemon juice, a coagulant to make the cooked soya milk curdle. Let to curdle for 12-15 minutes.

7) pour into a tofu mould that has been lined with cheese cloth letting the liquid "whey" drain away. Fold the cheese cloth over the bean curds.

8) put the plunger on top and add a weight to press out the liquid. Shorter times leads to a softer tofu, longer times leads to a firmer tofu.

9) Unwrap it and pack it in plastic food bags in the freezer to get a better texture.

10) Thaw it in the microwave the next day and then griddle pan fry it like chicken breast or cook it however you want.

Its a lengthy process and a bit fiddly, but it makes a cheap "meat" that you can make up on the fly with 1 - 2 days notice, and all you need store is the soya beans and some nigari.

The "Nigari" is magnesium chloride which makes a better texture of tofu than the lemon juice. Some use vinegar, but i haven't experimented with that yet.

You can also get a soya milk maker to help make the process quicker.

I am still perfecting the art to make it all to my requirements. But having the ability to make tofu makes a lot of sense to me.

The pulp that you extract when making the "milk" can also be cooked and used. It is called Okara and is a high fiber high protein thing and can be dehydrated for storage too.

[Decaff]

Nickdutch, can you add flavour to this during the making or would that not work?

[Stasher]

That's fab, thanks Nickdutch. Going to Disco on Monday so shall see if they have soya beans available. I have always avoided SB before as I believe the world stock is contaminated by US beans, a lot of which have been produced as GM crops . However, I shall lower my principals to give it a go. Thank you