Blog Update!
For those of you not following me on Facebook, as of the Summer of 2019 I've moved to Central WA, to a tiny mountain town of less than 1,000 people.

I will be covering my exploits here in the Cascades, as I try to further reduce my impact on the environment. With the same attitude, just at a higher altitude!

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Homemade tofu

Tofu - what the hell do I do with it?Well, I made my first batch of soymilk from my brand-spankin' new Soyabella machine. It's a relative breeze to do. The only time consuming thing is soaking the beans for 6 hours. Since I can get organic soybeans for about $1.50 a pound and you only use a little cup worth, my soymilk is going to be pennies per gallon. You can also make raw nut milks (like almond) in it too.

Anyway, another fun thing you can do with your homemade soymilk (I suppose you can do the same thing with store bought plain soymilk) is make your own tofu. I'm guessing that this will result in another super-inexpensive homemade item.

Once you've cranked out your soymilk, all you need to do is add a coagulant (like nigari), let it sit for 20 minutes and then put it in a press. Et voilĂ ! Tofu. Again, for pennies on the dollar.

Now, I just need some good tofu recipes...

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Crunchy...I have a couple of questions about this soymilk maker.
1.) where did you get it?
2.) Where did you get the soybeans?
3.) How is the soymilk made - I looked on the site and it looks like it basically blends the soaked beans for 15 minutes with the water & other ingredients? Is that it?
4) How did it really taste - My parents are HUGE Silk & 8th Contitent drinkers - I know comes in plastic....but I'm trying to think ahead for a great Christmas gift and thought they would enjoy this - since they also feel bad about the trash it creates....Heck they are retired too and have time to make milk.

Enjoy your posts!!

Trina said...

Here's one of my favorite tofu recipes. I've altered a chicken soup recipe that I found in a Better Homes and Gardens book.

Tofu Soup with Lentil and Barley
1 Cup chopped onions
1 sweet pepper chopped
1 clove minced garlic (or to taste)
2 tablespoons butter
29ish ounces of chicken or veggie stock
1.5 cups water
.5 cup dried lentils (not quick cooking)
.5 tsp dried basil
.25 tsp dried oregano
.25 tsp dried rosemarry
1.5 cups cubed tofu
1.5 cups sliced carrots
.5 cups quick-cooking barley
1 can tomatoes or 4 large fresh tomatoes

Cook the onion, sweet pepper, and garlic in the butter til tender. Carfully stir in stock, water, lentils, basil, oregano, rosemary, and some pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Stir in the carrots and uncooked barley. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes or til carrots are tender. Add tomatoes (juice and all) and tofu. Heat through. Serve hot. A bit of shredded parmesean on the top is an excellent addition.

Lamzeydievey said...

When I was growing up my parents were homesteaders and one thing I always looked forward to was the soymilk and yogurt days.

She didn't have a fancy machine but to make soymilk my mom would:

First soak the beans. one lb of beans makes about a gallon of soymilk. Next parboil them (boil for 3 minutes), drain them and save the liquid. Put a cup of the boiled beans in a blender and fill the remainder with your liquid, puree well. Finally, pour the puree into a winesack, squeezing out the milk.
Sweeten with barley malt or honey, depending on your preference.

You should be able to buy the beans from Whole Foods or some other natural foods store, or you could order from someplace like Country Life Natural Foods (www.clnf.org) and get a 25# bag for around seventeen bucks.

Like most things made fresh rather than storebought you will probably find this has a brighter, more natural flavor. It tastes more like the bean than storebought. But it is from a bean anyway so it should!!

Hope this was helpful.
-Sarah

emily said...

http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=8769.0

this is BY FAR the BEST tofu recipe EVER!!

Greenpa said...

Something worth knowing- in China tofu is as complex and diverse as "cheese" is here. There are soft, hard, mild and sharp variations. I remember eating "bleu tofu" with my breakfast rolls- just as a flavoring agent, a little bit on a chopstick, spread on the roll, is how they did it.

Kids in particular tend to go "ick" when you say "tofu soup today!" Some of the variants were TASTY; and it's always been a puzzle to me why they're so hard to find. Now that you're doing it- at home- what an opportunity for experimenting!

Unknown said...

This is a recipe for the most amazing chocolate peanut butter pie you've ever tasted. The main ingredient is tofu. I've made it with both firm tofu and silken and the silken works better for me. Either way, my family had no idea that tofu was the main ingredient.

http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=6393.0

Also, wow. I'm also curious as to how that soymilk tastes?

Crunchy Chicken said...

To answer a few questions:

I got the soymilk maker via Amazon - it was about $50 cheaper.

I get the soybeans from our local co-op. I suspect a health food store would carry them.

You soak the beans and then it runs for about 15 minutes and you're done.

It tastes more "beany" than store bought. I read that if you rub the skins off after soaking, it is less beany tasting. I'll have to try that next time.

As with making yogurt at home, I'll need to fiddle with how I make it until I get it to the flavor that I like.

ellie said...

Hello, I've just discovered this blog and will be back for regular reading. I've eated tofu all my life, and might try my hand at making it after reading this post. Recipes: tofu is so versatile, you can eat it raw on sandwiches, baked, fried, in pasta sauces, stirfried, deepfried, frozen - then in soups, etc... I love baking it with fresh garlic, ginger, chilli + tamari, bit of water, sesame oil, then yoghurt on top: bake until top looks nice and golden. We fry it in pan with butter / oil + garlic, chilli, etc until crispy - cut in big slices for this. You can use instead of the pasta in lasagne - just cut it in big slabs and put into layers raw, soaks up flavours of whatever else you use. If you want MORE ideas I can write in my blog, just let me know. We eat tofu with most of our dinners - everyone loves it. But, you can pretty much do whatever you think of with tofu. Hmmm, maybe except rolling it...

P~ said...

So tell me how does the tofu taste? What's the texture like I've been thinking about getting one of these machines. I am hesitant though, I may try making it a little more rustically like the method described by Lamzeydievey.
P~

Whirled said...

I have been a happy soy eater for years. However an article in the newest Utne has really got me worried. It talks about how the fermented soy foods are really good for you (like tempeh and miso), but how the others are really bad. Especially (I hate to say this Crunchy) soy milk. Check out Utne or "The Whole Soy Story:The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food" by Kaayla Daniel. I'd love to hear what you think