My husband is a chef and is always looking for new things to experiment with in the kitchen. Although he enjoys many types of food, that man loves meat like no one else I’ve ever known. Like, would eat pork three meals a day if he didn’t think it would hurt him… An on-again-off-again vegan since my teens, meat doesn’t really do much for me. Every once in a while, I do enjoy a roast chicken or a little piece of steak, and I can eat sushi like it’s going out of style, but overall I am pretty content to go without it.
So I was a bit surprised when my husband said that he wanted to try making our own soy milk and tofu — usually the mere mention of something like tempeh or seitan is enough to get a feigned gag, or at least an eye-roll out of him. But to his credit he has been making an effort to eat more healthfully lately, and of course I think that the idea of making something new in the kitchen was exciting for him.
I was amazed by just how easy it is to make soy milk at home; no special equipment required — if you own a blender you can do it! The result tastes better, and is cheaper and healthier than what you buy in the store. This recipe will yield one quart of milk.
What you will need:
– 1 1/3 cups dried soybeans (you can usually find these in the bulk section of health food stores)
– 6 cups filtered water
– A large strainer or chinois
– Cheesecloth, burlap, or a clean piece of thin fabric, such as a cloth napkin, t-shirt, or gauzy curtain — emphasis on clean
– A blender
– An old milk bottle or whatever you wish to store your soy milk in
Directions:
1. In a large bowl soak your soybeans with 3” of cold water. Let stand overnight.
2. Drain the soybeans
3. Put 1/3 of the beans into your blender with 3 cups filtered water. Blend on high. Add the remaining soybeans a bit at a time and continue blending until as smooth as possible
4. Line your strainer/sieve/chinois with 3 layers of cheesecloth or your clean piece of fabric. Set over a large heatproof bowl:
5. In a large pot boil 3 remaining cups of filtered water. Add the soybean paste and boil for about 8 minutes over medium-high heat. Stir constantly to prevent sticking or burning.
6. Pour the mixture into the straining apparatus
7. Let stand until just cool enough to handle — about 15-20 minutes
8. Gather your cloth together and squeeze, extracting as much of the milk as possible
9. Continue squeezing until you can get nothing else out and the remaining solids are nearly dry
10. Discard the cloth with the solids, remove strainer, and skim any foam off of the top of the soymilk
11. Transfer milk to a container and enjoy! Keep refrigerated — will keep up to 2 weeks in a sealed, refrigerated container.
Adapted from Food And Wine, July 2011
theindiehomemaker 