• Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Snapchat
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

MsMarmiteLover

  • Food
    • Recipes
    • Vegetarian
    • Vegan
  • Travel
    • France
    • Italy
    • Spain
    • UK
  • Wine
  • Gardens
  • Supperclubs/Events
  • About
    • Published Articles
    • Books
  • Shop
    • Cart

How to make tofu from soy beans Part 1

March 11, 2013 10 Comments Filed Under: Food, Recipes, Uncategorized

 Tofu often has the reputation to be bland. But in Asia, particularly Japan, they appreciate this subtle foodstuff, making it in several textures, each with a different cooking purpose. Tofu is healthy, light, full of protein but also a wonderful flavour sponge, soaking up the tastes of anything you cook it in. It can be fried, simmered in soups, baked, smoked, marinated and eaten raw.
From a previous blog I wrote on tofu:

I believe tofu is unjustly maligned as boring, rather it is one of the great undiscovered foods in the west. There are different grades and types of tofu and ways of cooking it.
Inari tofu pockets: this are sweet fried tofu ‘envelopes’ that can be stuffed with rice. I totally love these and have been eating them by the packet. They should first be rinsed with hot water to remove the grease, then squeezed dry.
Silken tofu: soft, usually it is drained, placed on the palm of the hand and cut gently into squares. Great in soups or as a vegan replacement in desserts. (I make a tofu chocolate mousse).
Firm tofu: tougher and easier to work with, great diced carefully into stir fries, or smoked. It’s very versatile.
When I was travelling in Tibet I had an amazing dish in Shigatse: firm tofu cut into rectangles and fried in red chilli sauce and garlic. It was so moreish I went back to the same lunch place every day to have it again. Today I made a smoked sesame tofu and roasted butternut squash with smoked paprika salad. Always have a packet of tofu in the house for unexpected vegans too.

After buying a book ‘Asian Tofu’ by Andrea Nguyen, I decided to have a go at making it from scratch. The first time, it wasn’t a quick process, partly because the instructions in Andrea’s book aren’t that clear.

Before you start, make sure you can get hold of one of these coagulants:
  • Nigiri (a seaweed/magnesium derivative, apparently available in Japanese supermarkets but I couldn’t find it)
  • Gypsum (available, food-grade, at brewing places)
  • Epsom Salts (available in chemists, but tends to make the tofu granular)

It took me quite a bit of research to find them, which slowed down the process of making tofu. These are the coagulants needed to form a tofu ‘cake’. 
Also buy good soy beans. Andrea suggests buying organic ones. (Available from Wholefoods and most health food shops). 
Soy Milk recipe: (which can be used to make all the tofu recipes)
We start by soaking 250 grams of the soy beans in filtered/mineral water for 24 hours. (Making tofu is a bit like making cheese, the water is very important, you want it as pure as possible, no hard lime). Then drain them.
Then take the beans and grind them (I used a vitamix), adding 2 cups of mineral water. You want to end up with a lovely milk coloured purée.
Add the beans and another 3 cups of mineral water to a large saucepan. 
Use another half cup of mineral water to rinse out your blender, add this to the saucepan.
Boil this mixture, stirring all the while, for about 5 minutes. When the foam rises, turn the heat down. 
Prepare a sieve with a cheesecloth lining it.
Push through as much of the milk from the pulp as you can. As it cools, eventually you can pull up the sides of the cheesecloth into a bundle or sack and squeeze out the milk. Do this in batches. When it seems pretty dry, put the ‘lees’, the dry remains, into another dish. Keep, because at the end you will want to do a second pressing. 
(Some people keep the lees at the end, they didn’t taste very nice so I wouldn’t bother).
You should have a nice pot of soy milk at the end of this.
Now you need to heat up this pot of soy milk a second time, simmer, stirring all the time, for about five minutes.
Making Yuba, soy milk skin.
This is considered a delicacy in Japan and you can make a few portions from your simmering pot of fresh soy milk. It’s fairly similar to milk skin, it just forms on the top when the milk is cooling. To get ‘yuba’, stop stirring and let it cool, then carefully lift off the skin with a rubber spatula.
Then I dried the ‘yuba’ by draping it over the spatula handle. 
Once it has dried for a few minutes, not long, you can fold it in quarters and eat it with some ponzu (soy sauce with yuzu citrus) and wasabi. It is a delicate subtle taste but very nice if you like Japanese food. All the posh restaurants and chefs use this, like Nuno Mendes of Viajante. 
You can keep going if you like until you end up with lots of sheets. I did about 4 sheets, leaving a few minutes in between batches, waiting for skin to form on my soy milk. 
The rest of the milk I saved to make tofu, which will be in Part 2.

Recent posts

Adventures in Kent on International Women’s Day

March 27, 2023

Spring budget recipes for Willesden Library

March 23, 2023

Smoked haddock chowder recipe in Suffolk

March 17, 2023

Previous Post: « Recipe: Marmite French Onion Soup
Next Post: Jar meal number 2 »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Miss Whiplash

    March 12, 2013 at 11:09 am

    I LOVE the idea of making tofu – I definitely plan to do this 🙂

    Are the beans that you use dried?

    Reply
  2. theundergroundrestaurant

    March 12, 2013 at 12:41 pm

    Hi Miss Whiplash: yes they are dried. Make sure you get large ones that are a nice creamy colour, of uniform shape and size, without 'eyes' if poss.
    They keep indefinitely according to Asian Tofu by Andrea Nguyen

    Reply
  3. Jeanne

    March 14, 2013 at 3:39 pm

    Now that's a new one on me – soy bean milk skin?? Intriguing. And it's always a source of amazement to me how easy it is to make nut/bean milks (and how delicious!)

    Reply
  4. tori

    March 15, 2013 at 1:21 pm

    This is fascinating- one of those fridge staples that I hadn't contemplated making from scratch, but love seeing the process. I went through a stage of having tofu smoothies most mornings- silken tofu, banana, blueberries and a slosh of juice. Was actually quite lovely.

    Reply
  5. theundergroundrestaurant

    March 17, 2013 at 12:54 am

    Hi Jeanne: it's really nice, yuba…
    I've not made a nut milk yet, must have a go with my vitamix

    Reply
  6. theundergroundrestaurant

    March 17, 2013 at 12:54 am

    Tori: hmm that sounds nice…

    Reply
  7. Alvaro

    March 18, 2013 at 5:01 pm

    I always wondered how tofu was made and here i got the answer! Doesn't look too difficult, so it worth a try!

    Reply
  8. Yuanqiu Zhu

    May 10, 2013 at 1:09 pm

    Nigiri? I think you meant Nigari. Nigiri is a kind of sushi. Actually, you can just use distilled vinegar and salt in the last step when transfer soy milk into tofu. They are much more easy to access than the other traditional materials people used in that step.

    Reply
  9. Anonymous

    July 25, 2013 at 11:33 pm

    where is your Tofu making part 2?

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers

      July 26, 2013 at 8:02 am

      Yes you are right, where is it? Well it took a while to get the right coagulating material delivered. I had one go, and it wasn't great tbh. I'm going to have another go…

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

Subscribe to my mailing list

msmarmitelover

Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
I went to Wembley in north west london to talk to I went to Wembley in north west london to talk to Sophie of @tobia.teff she uses the iron-rich, gluten free teff grain from her homeland Ethiopia. She showed me how to make injera, the Ethiopian flatbread which is fermented. She also talked about the coffee ceremony, 3 cups, which they pair with toasted barley or, currently, popcorn! I’d love to visit Ethiopia and find out more about their ancient food culture, history, 3.5k year old monarchy and religions.
Doing a spring budget recipe cooking demo for @bre Doing a spring budget recipe cooking demo for @brentcouncil Willesden library. I’ve been doing this a few times a year for the last few years. Wouldn’t it be great if they had a kitchen set up permanently. Libraries are community centres and could be used to teach how to cook from scratch.
Mother’s Day flowers from @siennamarla who is ex Mother’s Day flowers from @siennamarla who is experiencing her own first Mother’s Day with Ophelia. I’m still living in chaos & work was slow yesterday due to rain. Only another month…
Last week I did a wild foraging walk with @luciath Last week I did a wild foraging walk with @luciathewildkitchen in Kent @kent_downs_aonb just outside Canterbury. I’m going to help out during her May wild asparagus workshop. This chef lived in France, is a brilliant forager and cook. Her campfire meal of lentils, wild garlic raitha and a dukkah of alexanders, Parmesan was genuinely delicious not worthy like so much foraged food.
I did a bushcraft workshop with @naturalpathwaysbu I did a bushcraft workshop with @naturalpathwaysbushcraft Hannah Nicholls in Kent. An all female group, this felt very empowering and I must get myself one of these fire sticks. @kent_downs_aonb
Me @hamyardhotelsoho where I participated in a BRI Me @hamyardhotelsoho where I participated in a BRILLIANT block printing workshop with @mollymahonblockprinting it was a belated birthday present from @siennamarla The hotel is gorgeously designed, look at the fabric wallpaper behind me. Every corner is a feast for the eyes. Lunch was included and unlike many hotel restaurants the food was so tasty (and vegetarian), perfectly judged in quantity. Congrats to the chef. I got so excited on Friday I bombarded my timeline with stories which may have been a tad overwhelming. I’ve had a great week, going to Kent @kent_downs_aonb to meet foraging chef @luciathewildkitchen and bushcraft teacher hannah @naturalpathwaysbushcraft so it’s been one of extremes, from urban high glamour to roughing it outside in frosty countryside. I’m loving life as a journalist and photographer, I get to meet so many inspiring people. At home things are a bit grim because I’m having building work done and for almost 3 months I’ve lived in rubble, without heating, and sometimes without cooking or hot water. So these days out are fab for my mental and physical health. I will be posting more on Kent, Molly Mahon, Ham Yard hotel and the building works. #springiscoming🌸 dress by @designerfriday
Artichoke lasagne. I made a white lasagna with bec Artichoke lasagne. I made a white lasagna with bechamel, Parmesan, mozzarella and artichokes. I prepped the artichokes from fresh but you could use jarred. I had this @nonna_betta in Rome. It was so good I had to figure out how to make it myself. #artichokes #carciofi #romanjewishfood
Hags by Victoria Smith @glosswitch on twitter. On Hags by Victoria Smith @glosswitch on twitter. On the demonisation of middle-aged women. We are all karens now. We’ve passed our last fuckable day. This book, an easy read, not an academic one, is brilliantly written, with an ice cold anger at the way women over 40 are erased, told to shut up. Yes we call the manager. We are sticking up for ourselves. We don’t take shit anymore. We aren’t beholden to being liked by men, being girl-friend material anymore. Embrace your hagdom. You can buy your own flowers. #books #feminism #hags
Carciofi alle giudia, artichokes, Roman Jewish sty Carciofi alle giudia, artichokes, Roman Jewish style. I learnt how to prepare these from @silvia_nacamulli a local Jewish Italian cook and teacher, who recently wrote a book ‘Jewish flavours of Italy’ available from @green_bean_books you need the right type of artichokes: mammole are currently available @natoora via @ocadouk have some lemon quarters to rub on the newly exposed parts of the artichoke and put them in water with lemon juice to stop them going black. #you take off many of the outer leaves until they are half pale green. Then cutting in a circular upward stroke, you take off the hard green purple tops of leaves. It ends up looking like a peony. Cut off the fibrous parts of the stalk. Smear salt and pepper inside the flower. Fry at 150c for 15 minutes. Remove and drain, open up to look like a sunflower. Then fry again at 180c until the outer leaves are golden and crispy. Serve immediately. Divine! #jewishitalianfood #carciofi #artichokes #mammole #artichokeseason
@silvia_nacamulli has just brought out a fantastic @silvia_nacamulli has just brought out a fantastic book ‘Jewish flavours of Italy’ . She lives local to me so I went round to see how she prepares artichokes for the famous carciofi alle guidea and artichoke stew. You need mamole artichokes that are in season now from @natoora I’ll be publishing a longer video on YouTube and a piece on her cooking in the @hamandhigh
Whipped feta dip is so simple: a block of feta, a Whipped feta dip is so simple: a block of feta, a couple of spoons of yoghurt, some lemon juice, whizzed up. Add black pepper or herbs. #5minuterecipes
This is what I’ve been doing for the last month. This is what I’ve been doing for the last month. Want to replace window overlooking garden with a wider, lower one but struggling to find something nice. All new sash windows look kinda fake. #vintagewindows #building #exposedrafters
Baking for the builder: cranberry pie with cream. Baking for the builder: cranberry pie with cream. Just because you are a builder it doesn’t mean you don’t appreciate pretty pink china and home baking. #builders
My piece is The Great Read: My piece is The Great Read:
Naples at Christmas- discovering piennolo di vesuv Naples at Christmas- discovering piennolo di vesuvio,the Christmas 🍅, which lasts up to a year fresh. It’s given boxed as gifts around Christmas being the only local fresh tomato available. It dresses all the Christmas pizzas and pastas. It’s grown on volcanic Vesuvius soil and sparsely watered. As a result it has thick skins, and a sweet intense flavour. #tomatoes #italy #naples
Not cooking much at the moment due to a thick laye Not cooking much at the moment due to a thick layer of dust over my kitchen. This will be my dining room/photography studio. Done on a whim.#unplanneddemolition
Another picture of my granddaughter Ophelia in a n Another picture of my granddaughter Ophelia in a nest of apricot tulle (found at portobello market). Isn’t she lovely? #granfluencer
Broccoli Stilton soup. This freezing week is defin Broccoli Stilton soup. This freezing week is definitely a week for soups. My friend @jimfrommanc is staying & needs his hot lunch.
Cheese on toast with crushed chilli 🌶️ in Ven Cheese on toast with crushed chilli 🌶️ in Venice the fresh food market sells bouquets of colourful chillies. I’ve still got mine, drying in an enamel jug. #travelandfood
The Christmas tomato or piennolo di vesuvio. Read The Christmas tomato or piennolo di vesuvio. Read all about it: https://msmarmitelover.com/2022/12/christmas-in-naples.html  Got a couple of bunches hanging in my kitchen. #naples #campania #tomatoes🍅 #travelphotography
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Archives

Copyright © 2023 msmarmitelover