Making Your Own Tofu?

Someone asked about how to save money on tofu. It has been 30 years since I last made some, and I have lost the recipe. It was in a book that I no longer have, because I can't digest soy products anymore. I did an email search and found only complicated, exotic-sounding recipes. So I am going to tell you as much as I can remember. It isn't a big deal, but you will have to experiment to get the temperature right. Don't let my vagaries stop you. It only costs the price of a pound of the dry soybeans to try this out.

First, soak the soybeans overnight. Any kind of soybeans can be made to work. In the morning, they should be swelled up to about twice their original size. Put some in the blender with as little water as is necessary to keep things moving. Then turn on the blender and liquefy the beans. I think a food processor would probably work even better than a blender. Now pour the resulting liquid through a strainer that is lined with cheese cloth. Put the liquid, or milk, in a saucepan and warm it gently. When you get to about 175 degrees F or so (again, experiment because this part isn't something I'm sure about), pour in some lemon juice or vinegar. Recipes on the net also suggest Epsom salts. I suggest starting with 1/3 cup per gallon of soy milk. It should start to separate right away. Stir it in to mix it well, and then let it separate for a few minutes. Now pour this through a clean cheesecloth. Put the solids in a mold and let them drain for a couple of hours in the kitchen sink. You can use any perforated container. I used a regular colander for my mold.

And there you have it. I don't know why the recipe is so hard to find. Must be some kind of industry secret? At the time I was doing this, soybeans were cheap and easy to find in one-pound bags. They seem to have disappeared from the shelves, but health food stores might have them.

By Coreen from Rupert, ID