Il tofu may be homemade according to the traditional recipe, which involves starting with the use of two fundamental ingredients: yellow soybeans and nigari (or magnesium chloride). It is considered the best rennet for the preparation of tofu. The natural nigari, free of synthetic additions, it consists of what remains after extracting the salt from sea water and is produced by drying in the sun.
The nigari can be purchased in herbal medicine, in the shops of natural products, at the pharmacy or online. There yellow soy must be chosen of organic origin and it is readily available in natural products outlets that also deal with food.
With the following recipe you can get a tofu stick of about 250 grams.
- 250 grams of organic yellow soy
- 2,5 liters of water + soybean soaking water
- 7,5 grams of nigari
- Kombu seaweed
proceed rinsing the soy beans and storing them in soak in a bowl filled with water equal to at least three times their volume for 24 hours, along with a piece of kombu seaweed, remembering to replace the water at least once after 12 hours. At this point you will find that the soy beans will be increased in volume and will have assumed an oval shape. The addition of kombu seaweed will make the soy used for the preparation of tofu even more digestible. It can also be added in homemade soy milk preparation process, in order to enrich with calcium the drink you will get.
Transfer the soy beans to a blender with 500 milliliters of water and pour the remaining 2 liters of water into a saucepan. Blend the soy until it is reduced to a pulp and transfer it to the pot with the water. Bring everything to a boil and let it simmer for about ten minutes. So turn off the heat and get ready to filter the liquid obtained.
Equip yourself with a large bowl and a colander. Cover the colander with a white cloth, possibly washed using del vegetable soap, to prevent detergent residues from contaminating your preparation. With a ladle, collect the solid part of the preparation, which is called okara and which can be used for example for the preparation of croquettes or as a filling for savory pies, transfer it to the colander and make sure to filter the liquid it holds as much as possible, helping you by pressing with a ladle or a wooden spoon. Proceed like this until you have filtered the entire content of the pot. It is also possible to enclose the okara with the cloth in a bundle and help yourself by squeezing it with your hands. Collect the okara and place it in an airtight container, which you will close and transfer to the refrigerator when the soy pulp has cooled.
At this point proceed with the preparation of the tofu. Pour the liquid into the bowl, which is none other than soya milk, in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon to prevent everything from sticking to the bottom of the saucepan. Let it sit for a few minutes. If you have an immersion cooking thermometer, you can check that the temperature of the soy milk has reached 90 degrees before pouring the nigari, after having dissolved it briefly in a glass with lukewarm water. After adding the nigari, you will see i form in a short time tofu flakes.
They will have to be collected with delicacy with the help of a ladle and transferred into a perforated plastic or wooden container (there are special ones for the preparation of tofu) that you will have covered with a cotton napkin with which you will completely wrap the dough, keeping it to drain on the sink for a few minutes before placing a weight on it so that the tofu can be pressed.
After at least 30 minutes, the tofu can be transferred to the refrigerator in a container with a lid filled with salt water. Tofu can also be stored this way for one week. To obtain a larger loaf, the quantities indicated in this recipe can be double.
Il nigari can be replaced by 100 ml of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice, by calculating to keep the quantity of soy provided for this recipe as it is in this recipe, but halving the quantity of water. Using lemon juice or apple cider vinegar as rennet will yield teaofu with a slightly softer and more crumbly consistency.
Read also:
- How to prepare the soya milk
- How to make yogurt at home soy
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- DIY Seitan: the complete procedure to prepare it
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