Sunday, October 28, 2012

Vegan MoFo - Home made tofu


I've wanted to make tofu for such a long time but certain things have held me back. I looked into the process and wasn't sure where to get a coagulant so I pushed tofu making into the back of my mind. When Steph posted about her experience of attending a tofu making class in Beijing earlier this year, my interest was piqued and I took it a step further by purchasing some organic soy beans but still couldn't track down the coagulant.

It wasn't until reading Tofu Mom's post recently that I hunted again and found that calcium sulphate (also known as gypsum) is also used in home brewing. This ingredient I had been searching for was actually available at a home brew store down the road all this time! Tofu Mom provided links to three different tofu making methods, it was the first I followed which uses calcium sulphate. I found the process pretty easy, it takes a while from start to end but there is a lot of slack time in between steps. Here is a summary of my tofu making day last weekend.


400 grams of soy beans were soaked overnight, then drained in a colander and rinsed well with water. After placing the soy beans in the blender I filled it up with filtered water to couple of centimetres above the beans.


The soy beans were processed into a paste.


The contents of the blender were poured into a stockpot with 4.5 litres of filtered water and the temperature brought up to between 82C (180F) and 93C (200F) for 30 mins.


The mixture was strained with cheesecloth into a couple of bowls. The leftover pulp okara can be used in baking, I didn't have time to look up recipes for it and froze it for the time being. The strained milk was returned to stockpot and the temperature heated up to 93C (200F).


3 teaspoons of calcium sulphate was mixed with 3 cups boiling water. 3/4 of this mixture was poured into the pot initially and stirred through once. The heat was turned off and the pot sat undisturbed for 10 mins. The liquid was still cloudy after this time so I stirred through the rest of the coagulant as directed. If the liquid is clear there is no need to do this.


The tofu curds were removed from the pot with a slotted spoon and placed into the Tofu Xpress lined with cheesecloth. I didn't realise when I purchased the Tofu Xpress that it could also be used in the tofu making process and was thankful that I decided to buy the additional lighter tension spring that was required for this purpose. The curds released a lot of water for me initially so I drained the excess several times. After the tofu had been resting for 30 minutes the Tofu Xpress was plunged into an ice bath for 1 hour, after that the tofu was ready to eat.


Since my latest motivation to make tofu came from Tofu Mom and I loved the sound of the recipe in one of her recents post I decided to give the Fried Tofu Chik'n Style recipe a go. This was a perfect way to try out the tofu, it was crispy and tasted fantastic and I loved the combination of the vegan mayonnaise, nutritional yeast and soy milk dipping paired with the sage, "chicken" stock, garlic power and cayenne pepper breading.

I love eating tofu a lot so it was very rewarding to finally give tofu making a try. I definitely won't be doing this all the time but will enjoy making a batch every now and then to enjoy a special recipe or two.


21 comments:

  1. The DIY-Tofu-experiment is also waiting for me. I am looking forward through the darker months of the year to try it myself! Thanks for the recommendation of Tofu Mom´s site!;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You should definitely give it a try Momo, it's very rewarding!

      Delete
  2. This is super interesting because the method is exactly the same as I was taught, except I used rice vinegar instead of calcium sulphate! My teacher recommended lemon juice could also be used.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's interesting to hear that you can use rice vinegar and lemon juice as coagulants, I always thought that nigari or calcium sulphate were needed which is why it took me so long to get around to trying it. I also wanted to use calcium sulphate as I usually buy calcium fortified tofu.

      Delete
  3. Oh Mel, you are a serious inspiration. I haven't even dreamed of making my own tofu, except in very (very!) occasional random thoughts that I don't pursue. I am really impressed. Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Kari, I've been having on and off dreams about making tofu for sometime so I'm glad that I've finally done it and am looking forward to making some more.

      Delete
  4. What an interesting post! I've always wondered about making my own tofu, and it looks a lot more doable than I would have thought! I made my own soy milk once before. I was halfway there! Did you notice a different texture/flavor difference? Did you think fresher was better or just different? I didn't realize that the Tofu Xpress with a lighter tension spring could be used to make tofu. Good to know!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You were halfway there if you made your own soy milk! The tofu had a nice firm texture that I was happy with, I did wonder how it would have turned out without the extra coagulant. It was definitely nicer than store bought tofu. I looked up the FAQs on the Tofu Xpress website to see if there was any information about making tofu which is where I found the information about the lighter tension spring, prior to that I had no idea either.

      Delete
  5. I've also never tried making tofu - I really didn't realise it was so complex. How was the texture?

    Those chick'n strips do look insanely good though - looks like it was all worth it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a lengthy process but the individual steps aren't too involved. The texture was pretty firm and the chick'n strips were a great way to enjoy it.

      Delete
  6. That's really cool! Looks like you found the perfect recipe for enjoying your hard-earned fresh tofu too. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, it was a great recipe at the end for all of the hard work that went into making the tofu.

      Delete
  7. I am so impressed. Finding the right coagulent has been a problem for me - though I was recommended something that you can get at the chemist but still haven't chased it up - I think I need an x-press too. and fresh tofu really does taste amazing too (plus the whey is great for washing your hair) Will be interested to hear how you use the okara

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didn't know you could get a suitable coagulant from a chemist but I was also unaware that rice vinegar or lemon juice could be used. I've been really happy with my Xpress and use it twice or three times a week. Finding out that it could be used for tofu making was an added bonus. I didn't know that whey was good for washing hair either, perhaps I'll hang onto it next time!

      Delete
  8. Wow, go you! What a lot of effort, glad it paid off! I need to have a go at making chickpea tofu :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! Your comment had me intrigued about chickpea tofu and I had to look up some recipes. It sounds just as involved as tofu making, I wonder how it tastes?

      Delete
  9. This looks fantastic..I wonder if it's possible to make tofu from other beans?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, apparently you can make chickpea tofu but I'm not sure about other beans.

      Delete
  10. So awesome! My best friend makes her own tofu and in my mind it makes her a kitchen goddess!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, you should have a tofu making session with your friend one day. That would be fun!

      Delete
  11. I totally want to try this! I will now look for a home brew store to find the coagulant. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete