Well, it ain’t pretty. But it’s tofu. Mission, accomplished? The whole process was oddly similar to making mozzarella, only a bit more… beany. And you have to make your own milk first before you can start the curdling process. Was it worth the time? Debatable. While the texture was definitely more delicate, there wasn’t anything that made the homemade version leaps and bounds above what you can buy in a store. Granted I did not try the silken version of the recipe, but for standard block tofu I think I’ll stick to store bought. Although I will say you could save some money making it yourself (not that tofu is expensive or anything). I spent $3 on a quart of soy beans and it is probably enough make 6 good-sized blocks of tofu. On the other hand, time IS money.
The ingredients are simple enough…
The dried soybeans soak overnight until they are buttery yellow and easily break apart. They are easier to blend this way.
Mmm… soybean milkshake. It smells like grass, and not necessarily in a good way.
While the recipe I followed (from Asian Tofu by Andrea Nguyen) was very thorough and descriptive, there were a few places where it was missing some critical information. Like here. A temperature would have been extremely helpful. Instead, it just said to cook until a thick foam rose to the top of the milk. Well, that happened literally 20 seconds after I poured it into the pot, not the 3-6 minutes like the recipe said. Foam be damned, I kept cooking it.
It may seem smooth, but there’s more solid stuff in there than you’d think. It needs to be strained. Muslin or unbleached cotton fabric works best here, cheesecloth will let too much of the soy bean remnants through.
Caution: contents may be hot. Even with the gloves on I almost couldn’t bear it.
This stuff is what’s left after all the soymilk is squeezed out. Soybean “lees,” which, according to Ms. Nguyen, can be used in a variety of things. She even has a recipe for doughnuts. Say what?
This is gypsum, the coagulant that separates soymilk into the tofu curds and whey. Yes, gypsum. Like drywall. Food grade drywall (I’m really making you want to make tofu here, aren’t I?)
This is not proper coagulation. The 2nd time I made this it didn’t curdle nearly as well as the first time. I followed the troubleshooting steps in the book, adding more gypsum even. Stirring seemed to help, however, as once I started to ladle it into the mold it did separate into more distinctive curds.
Fancy tofu mold? No way, José. Instead I used an old plastic container with a few holes punched in the bottom.
Lined with some damp muslin, it made for a perfectly acceptable tofu mold.
See, curds!
This is what you call MacGyver’ing it.
Ok. Um… who’s hungry?
So there you have it. Perfectly acceptable tofu.
We chopped it up and used it along with some leftover pork in a dish called mapo tofu. The key flavor here is the Szechuan peppercorns, which have a woodsy spice and a unique tingly-hot sensation that leaves the tongue feeling anesthetized. In a good way, of course. Apparently it was illegal for many years, and only became readily available here in the states in 2005. Who knew? Serious bonus points to the few brave folks who joined me this month. You guys did awesome, your tofu looks way better than mine!
I’m so ready to move on. Next!
