Making Tofu, Illustrated

Directions for Making Tofu from Soy Milk

Bring the soy milk (filtrate) back to a boil. Dissolve 1 tablespoonfull of Epsom salts (MgSO4.7H2O) in ½ cup warm water. [Traditional recipes call for CaSO4 or MgCl2. Since I had neither, but did have epsom salts which is the first cousin of each of these salts, I decided to try it as a coagulant. It worked great.] Remove boiling soy milk from heat, add in Epsom salts solution with much stirring.

Let coagulate for several minutes until curds congeal and whey separates out.

This is what the curds look like when they are ‘mature.’

Pour into sterile handkerchief-lined strainer

Pour into sterile handkerchief-lined strainer

Transfer drained curds into a cheese press, press for about 20 minutes.

Transfer block of tofu into cold water to soak. This will remove some of the Epsom salts. The amount of tofu shown was made from half of the processed soy milk from above.

Store in the fridge in fresh water for up to three days. Best if used fresh. One of our favorite ways to eat tofu is to “bread” it with brewer’s yeast, fry it till brown on both sides, and serve with soy sauce. Here it is served on sauted kale with ginger and garlic.

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Making Soy Milk

Making Soy Milk, Illustrated

Illustrated Instructions

Place 1 cup washed soybeans in a quart jar, fill with fresh water, soak overnight.

The soaked beans are twice the volume.

Drain and rinse the next morning.

Place rinsed beans in blender, cover with boiling water to make about total of two cups beans and liquid.

Here I am blendiing half of the batch of soaked beans.

Blend until liquefied.

Blended 2-3 minutes.

Here I have tried two blenders to test their blending capabilities. You can see the liquid nature of both batches.

Pour blended beans into gallon pot, add sufficient boiling water so that slurry is liquid (about 6 cups). JAPANESE TECHNIQUE: Bring to simmer with stirring to prevent burning or sticking. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring regularly to keep from sticking.

Filter through a sterile handkerchief suspended in a strainer, wring out fluid. Save the soy paste (okara) for bread, soups or other uses.

Again, I am experimenting with the two batches of blended soy beans. You can see the paste collecting in the cloth.

The liquid in the bottom picture is the soy milk. If you want soy milk as the finished product, refrigerate immediately.

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Making Tofu, Illustrated