While the main protein sources in Western diets are meat and
dairy products, soybeans have for centuries served the same function in
the East. And tofu is an important part of the Easterner's diet.
Actually tofu is made from soybean curds, which are pressed and drained
to be made into tofu.
Tofu is cholesterol-free and low in
saturated fats. It has more protein than beef, more calcium than milk,
and more of a fatty substance called lecithin than eggs. Soybeans also
are rich in vitamins, minerals, and acids. They rank among the highest
in plant food protein, and since tofu is made from soybeans, it is an
excellent source of protein.
How Can It Be Used? Tofu is mild,
delicate, and almost tasteless. Therefore, tofu can be used in a wide
variety of ways. Tofu enhances dressings, sauces, salads, soups, egg
dishes, dairy substitutes, casseroles, and, of course, Oriental cuisine.
It can be parboiled, fried, pressed, squeezed, crumbled, drained, or
reshaped, eaten raw or frozen, substituted for cottage cheese in some
dishes, and used as an ingredient in Oriental recipes calling for bean
curd. Its use is limited only by the imagination and inventiveness of
the cook preparing a meal.
Would you like to put it on your menu?
Tofu is readily available in Japan and other countries in the East. And
in the West, more and more stores are selling the finished product.
Nevertheless, you may not be able to find it near you. So why not try
making it? It is not too difficult. Of course, you will need the proper
utensils, though you may be able to improvise for some of them.
Following are the steps necessary in making tofu.
Recipe for homemade Tofu
You
will need the following utensils: a blender, meat grinder, or mortar to
crush the soaked soybeans so as to form a puree. Two large cooking pots
of at least six to eight-quart capacity, with lids. A colander that
will fit into the cooking pots. Cheesecloth or clean dishcloth about two
feet (60 cm) square. A settling container, although the cheesecloth can
be used, making the finished product ball-shaped. (If you want to, you
can make a special settling container four inches (10 cm) by four inches
(10 cm) by seven inches (18 cm) (inside measurements) with drain holes
and a lid that will fit inside and can be weighted to press the tofu
into a rectangular block.) A wooden spoon, a rubber spatula, measuring
cups and spoons, a ladle, and a potato masher or strong glass bottle for
pressing will round out your set of utensils.
Wash and then soak one and a half cups of soybeans in six cups of water for ten hours. Rinse and drain them.
You
will now need 16 cups of water and a coagulant. In Japanese it is
nigari, or bittern. Other commonly used coagulants are: calcium sulfate;
calcium chloride; magnesium chloride. The first is the most common.
Lemon or vinegar can be used, with the result that the tofu will be
slightly tart. Experimenting with the different coagulants will enable
you to find what suits your taste.
Heat seven and a half cups of water in a cooking pot.
Divide
the soybeans into two portions and blend each into puree with two cups
of water (using blender, grinder, or mortar) and pour into water being
heated. Continue heating, stirring frequently until foam rises in the
cooking pot. Remove from heat and pour into pressing cloth (cheesecloth)
in colander placed in other cooking pot. Rinse the first cooking pot.
Folding
over the pressing cloth and using the potato masher or bottle, press
out as much of the soymilk as possible. Return the pulp to the cooking
pot and add three cups of water. Stir well and empty into pressing cloth
again, and squeeze out all the soymilk. Put the pulp into the cooking
pot and set aside.
Measure two teaspoons of coagulant and put this
into a dry one-cup measuring cup and set aside. If you use lemon juice
or vinegar, it should be four and three tablespoons respectively.
Bring the soymilk to a boil, reduce the heat, and cook it for five to seven minutes. Remove it from heat.
Add
one cup of water to coagulant, stirring to dissolve it. Stir the
soymilk five or six times and at the same time add one third of the
coagulant and give the mixture one more stir. After it has settled,
sprinkle one third cup of coagulant over the soymilk. Cover the cooking
pot and wait three minutes. Sprinkle the final third of the coagulant
over the soymilk. Stir slowly the upper one-half-inch (1.3-cm) layer of
thickened, curdling milk for 20 seconds. Cover the pot and wait another
three minutes. Finally, stir the surface layer for 30 seconds or until
all the milky liquid curdles.
Place the pot next to the settling
container. Carefully ladle curds one layer at a time into the settling
container. Fold the edges of lining cloth over the curds and place lid
on cloth. Weight it with a one-half to one and one-half pound weight for
10 to 15 minutes or until the whey no longer drips out.
Fill sink
with water. After removing weight, immerse settling container holding
tofu into water. Remove from container while in the water, and set
container aside. Keeping it under water, unfold cloth from tofu. Allow
tofu to remain under water a few minutes until firm. You can cut it into
serving pieces under water. If you do not plan to use it right away
keep it in the refrigerator-but change the water every day.
Michelle Alleyne is passionate about cooking unusual and
interesting foods and also trying recipes from many different countries.
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