Homemade Tofu

homemade tofu with hijiki salad

Recipe adapted from Food & Wine July11

Ingredients

1 1/3 cup dried soybeans

nigiri

blender

cheesecloth

Cover soybeans with 3 inches of cold water and let stand overnight.

They should look like this the next morning.  Nice and plump!

Drain and transfer to a blender.  Add 3 cups filtered water and puree at high speed until as soomth as possible.

Line a large sieve with 3 layers of cheesecloth and set the sieve over a large bowl.  In a large pot, boil 3 cups filtered water.  Add pureed soybean and boil over medium high heat for 10 minutes, stirring constantly.

Pour the mixture into the seive.  Let stand until for 20 minutes.  Gather the ends of cheesecloth and squeeze to extract as much of the soy milk as possible.  Skim off any foam from the milk.

In a small bowl, dissovle 1 teaspoon nigari flakes in 1/4 cup filtered water.  Add 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons of the nigiri solution in a large bowl.  In a large saucepan, heat 4 cups soy milk to 185 degrees.  Pour hot milk into the bowl with the nigari solution and stir.  Cover and let stand for 5 minutes.  Set a cheesecloth-lined mold with drainage over a bowl, and pour the tofu mixture into it.  Neatly fold the overhanging cheesecloth over the tofu and top with a small plate to press out excess water.  I let it drain for 20 minutes, but you can leave it up to 2 hours.  I washed the tofu in cold water for a few minutes to get rid of the bitter taste of nigari solution.