This is a blog post on making tofu at home from scratch. Making tofu isn’t as difficult as many people made it out to be. I don’t buy any special equipment to make tofu at home. This is because I am making small batches and it’s solely for my family’s consumption. It is time-consuming making your own tofu as one needs to blend and soak the soybeans. The kitchen ends up quite messy due to the blended-down soybeans. It is like making cheese but it’s plant-based milk one is using.
Homemade tofu is great to serve with stir fry dishes. A great meat alternative. Depending on how firm it becomes it can break down easily when cooking. So do a trial and error of how firm the tofu you want to be.
The tofu I make seems to have a mind of its own. As soon as I add a bit of the coagulate it seems to turn into curd. Of course, it is too little there isn’t much effect.
Equipment for a basic tofu making
Muslin cloth big enough to hold and cover the mixing bowl
Ramekin pots x4 at least
Blender about 1-2 litres capacity
Sieve
Mixing bowl 3 litres use to bake cakes
Making tofu at home from scratch
300 grams of Soybeans soaked for at least 12 hours
Coagulato like nigari salt or gypsum powder food grade
Cooking pot to cook soy milk
I tend to use ramekin pots as they are made out of glass and are easily available in the kitchen.
Method
Soak the soybeans in water overnight till it is softened. Prepare the Muslin cloth drape over the mixing bowl. Then in a blender blend the beans mixed with water till blended. Take it out of the blender and pour the mixture over the muslin cloth. Squeeze the soy milk out from the blended mixture.
In the cooking pot cook the soy milk till it is simmering and boiling. Turn down the heat. Then add bit by bit the coagulator till it starts to curd.
Then in a sieve or muslin cloth pour the coagulated soy mixture. This is to drain it away from the water. Then put the drained coagulated soy mixture with muslin cloth into the ramekin pots. Then use another ramekin to press down. I don’t use it to press down much and still manage to achieve fairly firm tofu.
I just let it set in the fridge. Once it is firm up to desired texture it is ready to eat. Here are some recipes with a tofu base – fried tofu with chilies and garlic and fried rice with tomato and tofu
