Tofu preparation, manual 3/3/2012 Omura, Japan

Tofu workshop participants at Jasper Language School.

Tofu cut on half for more easy manipulation.

Final blog of tofu floating in the liquid.

Tofu nearly unwrapped.

Starting to carefully unwrap the tofu from the cheesecloth, keeping it submerged.

Mould opened after 30-60 min, with the blog of tofu still in the cheesecloth.

Tofu mould with the weight on the top of the mix, straining the liquid.

Transfer of the mix to the mould complete.

Starting to add the curds and liquid mix to the mould.

Building up the tofu mould, complete.

Building up the tofu mould, adding the cheesecloth.

Building up the tofu mould.

Building up the tofu mould.

Building up the tofu mould.

Workshop master and tofu moulds.

Separation of the curds and liquid after 20 min or so.

Soy milk coagulation progressing creating clear curds.

The coagulation is starting to take place.

Starting to add the dissolved nigari to the soy milk stirring fast.

Waiting for the soy milk to heat up.

Weighting out the nigari.

The nigari/magnesium chloride (MgCl2) which we used for coagulation of soy milk.

Workshop participants measuring the temperature of the soy milk.

Heating up the soy milk mixing continously.

Transfer of the strained soy milk to the pot.

Gass stoves with pots are ready for the soy milk coagulation with nigari.

Close up on the fresh okara.

This is the result of straining, soy milk and okara.

Straining nearly done.

Finishing up the straining of soy milk and okara by hand.

Close up on the bag and straining soy milk.

Here you can see various stages of straining of okara and soy milk mix.

Blended mixture transfered to the bag.

Canvas bag in the bowl ready for okara and soy milk preparation.

Mixture blended.

Soybeans and water ready to be blended, see the ratio.

Soybean water mix transfered to the blender.

Already steeped and washed soybeans.

Tofu workshop master.

Tofu (bean curd) is a food made by coagulation of soy milk by various agents where the resulting curds are collected and pressed in cheesecloth (or more dense cloth) to remove the excess liquid which results in a white soft blocks of tofu. Tofu is originating in China, where it has been discovered several hundreds years before the Christ. It has low caloric value, it is low on fats and high on proteins. It’s flavour is mild which makes it optimal for marinating and seasoning. Due to the nigari/magnesium chloride which is the coagulating agent used in this manual it is also high on magnesium. It should be noted that consumption of non fermented tofu is in Asia not recommended to the children and old people because it is difficult to digest. This is being solved by fermentation of tofu. The manual below is a result of tofu making workshop which was organized by Jasper Language School in Ōmura, Japan where I was volunteering in March 2012 and I would like to thanks for the opportunity to participate. It is just slightly altered in places where I was not sure and I used info from another online sources.

Final weight of tofu – ??? g has to be calculated ???

• Ingredients

500 g of dried soy beans
water (purified if possible)
nigari – magnesium chloride (MgCl2) – for 500 g of dried soybeans is recommended to add 4 teaspoons, exact weight has to be found out, in manual 9 g are mentioned but that may not be exact because I am not sure what amount of dried soybeans we used

• Equipment

2x pot (10 l)
2x bowls (3-5 l)
blender
canvas bag or cheesecloth
spurtle
500 -1000 ml measuring cup with scale
tea spoon
tofu mould (see the image)
weight (cup filled with water)
knife
plastic bag (to store tofu)
glass closeable box (to store tofu)
glass closeable box (to store okara)
thermometer

• Procedure

– wash the dried soybeans in a cold water two or three times and try to remove outer skin
– steep the soybeans in a filtered water if possible for up to two days, if the temperature is below 15°C or just for 10-24 hours, if it is warmer 15-40°C
– after “24 hours” of steeping wash the soybeans again, twice, trying to remove the outer skin
– prepare the blender and add 0.5 l of steeped soybeans and 1 l of cold water, ratio 1:2
– blend on high rotation per minute (rpm) for 90 s, pause for 30 s and blend again for 90 s (the tofu master insist that this is an important part and you should keep following the intervals, I do not know what is the reason of that yet)
– decant the mixture into the canvas bag/cheesecloth placed in a bowl
– squeeze the bag to separate the particles (okara) from the liquid (soy milk)
– add around 200 ml of water to the okara in the bag and squeeze it again into the bowl
– transfer the okara into the bag or container and store at cold till used (up to a week)
– prepare a larger pot (10 l) filled with 4 l of water and bring it to the boil and let to cool a bit down to 85-90°C
– add the soy milk and mix slowly bringing the mixture to a boil on a low flame
– once boiling lower the flame and continue mixing for another 10 minutes, keeping it simmering
– weight the nigari/MgCl2 (9 g)
– switch off the flame and let the mixture cool to 74-76°C
– add slowly the MgCl2 to the soy milk and mix vigorously and observe the coagulation process, stop adding the coagulant when the coagulation is complete, be careful not to add more MgCl2 than necessary
– clean and make ready the tofu mould and place it into the bowl to capture the liquid (which will be disposed later on)
– place a canvas bag (cheese cloth) inside the tofu mould and over the edges and pour the coagulate into it
– fold the cheesecloth on the top and close the mould by the top part and add some weight of around 0.5 kg as for example tea cup with water on the top to create the pressure to facilitate the straining
– keep the tofu straining for 30 to 60 minutes, remove the liquid if the tofu starts to be submerged
– after the 30-60 min remove the liquid from the bowl completely and add larger quantity of water (6-8 l)
– remove the cup, open the mould, turn it sideways keeping it submerged and remove the bag with tofu keeping it floating in the water so it doesn’t brake
– remove carefully the bag and let the tofu float, you may cut it in half to easy up the manipulation
– transfer the tofu into the container adding the pressed liquid ??? (or water) and keep it submerged or put into the plastic bag and keep in the container, in both cases keep at cold (fridge)
– use within several days if left at cold without any additive
– for nutritionally optimal consumption you should ferment the tofu (Katz, 2012) to increase its digestibility
– unfermented tofu should not be consumed by children, older or ill people because it is hard to digest

• Recommended Literature, links and contacts

Katz S. E. (2012) In The Art of Fermentation. Goodman M. and Jorstad L. (ed.), 1st edn., Chelsea Green Publishing, Vermont, USA, pp 333-335.

Shurtleff W. and Aoyagi A. (1983) In Book of Tofu. 2nd edn. Ten Speed Press, ISBN-13: 978-1580080132, USA.

SoyDirect Soy Milk Maker. Available at http://www.soya.be/soyadirect.php (6th of August 2012)

~ by algoldor on August 6, 2012.