[CH] homemade tofu to go with chiles

Rain (rain@wwbbs.otherside.com)
Mon, 12 Oct 1998 05:02:14 GMT 

-> impossible to duplicate at home without all of their equipment...I have
-> produced some that was not bad, but when I considered the time and
-> effort involved by me, and the cost of a block of commercially produced
-> tofu, like WOW, man there aint a comparison!
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No problem; I have a recipe for excellent, easy, cheap tofu that doesn't
make it all complicated.  See below:
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-> attest, then I will stand to be corrected, and would welcome an EASY,
-> SIMPLE, way to make tofu....just grinding the soybeans is a pain in the
-> butt!Even with our big grinder!Cheers, Doug in BC
x
Grinder?  No need for that; a blender works really well.  Here goes; the
directions look long, but only because there's a lot of background and
description:
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-Begin Recipe Export- QBook version 1.00.14
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 Title: Tofu
Keywords: Vegan, main dishes
 
  2 cups washed light-colored (yellow or beige) dry soybeans--
     try to buy the freshest you can find; shopworn beans (over a
      year old) will make bad tofu and way less of it.
  6 quarts boiling water
  coagulant (see below)
 
  Cover beans with water and let soak 10-12 hours in a cool room--
  until the beans, when split, have flat surfaces and break easily.
  They will be the same pale color in the center as at the edges--if
  there are sunken yellow spots, soak them longer. This is THE
  crucial step, so start checking regularly at around 8 hours.
  Don't undersoak, and don't let them ferment (bubbles rising).
 
  Drain the beans.  Bring 16 quarts of water to boil in a large deep
  pan. Turn off heat.
 
  Blenderize one cup of beans with 1 1/2 cups *hot* tap water till
  well blended (or use 3/4 c. cold tap water and add 3/4 c. boiling
  water from the kettle.) The resulting mix will look kind of like
  wet cream of wheat. Continue to blend the beans 1 cup at a time
  and add the mix to the water in the large pan.  Stir.
 
  Now you need two big (2-foot) squares of coarse, clean cotton
  cloth.  Old flour sacking works very well.  So do 2 non-terrycloth
  kitchen towels sewn together tightly.  Don't use cheesecloth--you
  need a tighter weave than that--but be sure the cloth is coarse
  enough to poke a pin through easily, or you'll greatly reduce
  yield. Wash cloth well in something unscented like Ivory soap
  and rinse very well; you want to get out any scents from laundry
  detergent and fabric softener (and of course all traces of soap.:))
 
  Line a large colander with one square of cloth (moistened), and park
  it over yet another large pan. (Canners work well.)  Pour the stuff
  from the first big pan into the cloth, and when it's done draining,
  gather up cloth to squeeze out ALL the soymilk. Squeeze very well!
 
  You now have raw soymilk and okara  (the stuff in the cloth). Set
  okara aside or freeze it for later; it's good in bread & muffins.
 
  Put the soymilk back on the stove and over med-low heat bring it
  to a simmer. This takes awhile, but you don't want to burn it.
  Stir often. It will cling to the pan, and skin over on top just
  like milk does. Bring to a simmering boil and boil for 7 minutes.
  (NOTE: If it gets a good  "skin" on top, remove it in one piece
  with a chopstick. This is _yuba_, used in Japan as a meat
  substitute. Fried up in a little butter or oil, it is said to
  taste like chicken skin.)
 
  While the soymilk cooks, make up the coagulant:  most commonly
  2 teaspoons epsom salts in 1 cup warm water, or (best) 2 tsp. of
  _nigari_ from the healthfood store in 1 cup warm water, or (makes
  extra-delicious tofu) 1 1/2 c. clean seawater.
 
  Take the soymilk off the heat and *sprinkle* about 1/2 the
  coagulant solution *gently* over the soymilk.  Cut through--don't
  stir--the soymilk to distribute the coagulant.  Let stand for a
  few minutes. The curds should begin to form (watching this is cool.)
  Sprinkle 1/2 the remaining coagulant in the same manner. Repeat as
  needed (you may need to mix up more solution) until you have white
  curds in pale yellow whey--no creaminess left.
 
  Now take a colander (or, better, a Japanese-style pressing box--see
  the book cited below if you want to get fancy and build one.) Place
  this over a large pan, and line it with the second square of
  moistened cloth.  Drain off as much whey as you can from the curds
  without disturbing them too much, and save it.
 
  Then gently ladle the curds into the colander or box.  Cover the
  tofu with the cloth, put a board or plate on top and weight it down
  with about a 3-pound weight for 15-20 minutes. Submerge colander
  or box in cool water and invert carefully, letting wrapped tofu
  slide out. Gently remove the cloth underwater and let tofu sit in
  water 3-5 minutes. Slip a plate or some such under it for support
  and lift out.
 
  Store tofu in water in the refrigerator, changing water daily,
  or freeze it for an interesting texture change.  Tofu takes a little
  organizing, but the results are great and it's CHEAP.
 
  NOTE: Tofu whey, btw, is great stuff.  It's good for your skin, gentle
  enough to wash babies in (natural detergent+lecithin), makes a good
  liquid for bread baking, and is a natural wood polish and wonderful
  fertilizer. If you're still with me, I'd suggest you go out and buy
  "The Book of Tofu" by William Shurtleff and Akiko Aoyagi, get some
  beans, and get cookin'!
 
-End Recipe Export- 
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Rain
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