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