September 5, 2014
Quick and easy homemade tofu is a great recipe to learn. Tofu has a mild taste that can take on any flavor. You use it from sweet to savory dishes, and it adds not only a boost of healthy protein, but also a smoothness that is delightful.
Take a few ingredients and a little time, and get to know this simple food.
Tofu is super economical to make. You can buy it by the pound online, but be sure to buy organic GMO free varieties.
To make tofu, soak beans in cool water for 8 hours to overnight. I like to put my soybeans to soak before I go to bed. That way, they are ready for me in the morning.
Then, drain the beans and rinse them. Blend your beans with fresh water. Do this in small batches so you don't overflow the blender. As you blend beans, pour blended slurry into a heavy bottomed pot. Make sure it is very large because soymilk foams up quite a bit. Bring your mixture up to boiling, stirring all the time so it doesn't burn on the bottom of the pan or boil over. Continue to cook the mixture for 20 minutes, as this makes the soybeans digestible.
After 20 minutes, remove the cooked soymilk from the heat.
Line a colander with cheesecloth and pour the mixture through. Gather up the sides of the cheesecloth and carefully twist the soybean bits (called Okara) into a tight ball to remove all the milk.
Add this milk back to the pot and return to a boil.
As soon as it boils, sprinkle the curds with lemon juice until curds begin to form. Stir gently at this time. Once your curds have formed, strain them through the cheesecloth. I like to spoon the curds into a cheesecloth lined colander rather than pour all the excess water out with them.
Finally, fold the corners of the cheesecloth onto the curds to form a packet, and place something heavy on them to press out any excess water and compact the curds. Leave the weight in place for 1 hour.
Gently unwrap your fresh tofu!
Check out this great video showing how to make homemade tofu:
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