How to make Tofu (bean curd)
Well I suppose if you are reading this you are one of people who love tofu. It's a food that really divides the population. Some cite the store bought Tofu as bland. Well the good news for those people is that homemade tofu is a much tastier proposition.
The only specialist equipment required is a tofu mold. If you don't have one I'm sure you can manage with a little imagination.
Basically Tofu is made by coagulating Soy Milk. To do this you need a coagulant. The japanese use something called Nigari. It's a chemical (magnesium chloride) that's exctracted from sea water (Nigari sounds much nicer to me!). Others use calcium sulphate as it's a little cheaper and isn't as bitter as Nigari (which is Japanese for bitter!). Some people use lemon juice to do the trick with varying results.
Right lets get down to business!
Ingredients
- 600g Soy Beans
- A coagulant - 20g of calcium sulphate or 250ml of lemon juice
- Water
Equipment
- Standard cooking pots
- An electric blender
- Cheese cloth
- Tofu mold - probably the only specialist bit of kit
- Thermometer
Method
Wash your beans then soak them for between 6 -10 hours.
Add 4,200ml of water to the blender. Now add about 2 handfuls of bean s to the mix. Blend. Keep adding until you have used of the beans.
Get a bowl and lay the cheese cloth over it. Pour your mix over the cloth. To speed things up get the cloth and give it a squeeze.
Now put the milk into a cooking pot on a medium heat. Make sure you keep stirring the milk. After about 10 minutes you should start to get a strong aroma from the milk.
Turn the heat down low and leave until it starts to boil. Take a tempreture reading. The best temp is 85°C.
If you are using calcium sulphate add to 250ml of water and mix well. If you gone the lemon route you don't need to add any water to it at all. Add your coagulant to a large pot. Give it a quick swish around. Now pour your lovely milk in quickly. Leave it to set for about 5 minutes.
Nearly there! Make sure yo put you mold somewhere that can drain away the fulid. Place a cheese cloth over the top of the mold. Scoop in your tofu. Cover over with the the sides of cheese cloth. Add the lid and place something heavy such as pot of water on top.
Now it's up to you how long you want to leave it. 20 -25 mins will give a soft tofu. 30 medium and 35 a hard tofu. You can eat it warm - it taste great.
To store put the tofu in to a container with cold water for 1 hour. Add to the fridge after this. It's best to change the water everyday.
I know tofu!
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