Nonas Tableside Homemade Soft Tofu Food

TABLE-SIDE HOMEMADE SOFT TOFU

Steps:

• Have ready liquid measuring cup that has ml numbers and a small metric dropper (I use a dropper for measuring liquid medication for this purpose).
• Soak dry beans in 6 cups water for at least 12 hours. Drain beans. You want to get approximately 400 grams of soaked beans. You may have leftover beans after measuring. Use extra beans for other use.
• Divide the 400 gram beans in half. Divide 800 ml water in half.
• Using a blender, blend the 200 gram beans with 400 ml water until very smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Put this in non-stick pot. Repeat with remaining 200 gram beans and 400 ml water.
• Let the mixture come to boil stirring frequently and as soon as it comes to boil, turn down the heat to simmer. Cook, stirring frequently for 2-3 minutes. Make sure it does not burn.
• Using a colander and a large bowl, line the colander with heavy duty cheesecloth, muslin, or cotton cloth large enough to completely cover the colander.
• Pour in the soy milk mixture and twist close the cheesecloth, muslin, or cotton cloth. Squeeze the milk out. I use a can to help squeeze the milk out.
• Use leftover solids or okara for other use.
• Measure the milk. You want to have 700 ml soy milk. If not enough, add some hot water through the okara again to get 700 ml soy milk.
• Put soy milk back into a large non-stick pot and heat until the mixture comes to 75 C to 80°C or 167 F to 176°F.
• At the table (if you are serving this at table side), have ready a container approximately 5-6 inches x 4-5 inches and 4-5 inches depth. Basically you can use any small container that will be big enough to hold the milk, but not too big that tofu will not form up. You can also use round, square or oblong containers.
• Put in 7 ml liquid nigari into the container ready for tofu. I use a liquid medicine dropper for this purpose since I do not have anything small enough to measure 7 ml.
• Pour or dump in hot soy milk into the container with nigari. No stirring is necessary. The act of pouring in soy milk stirs the nigari enough to form the tofu. Wait 3 to 5 minutes for tofu to form.
• You can either eat immediately or refrigerate for later use. See my description above.

HOMEMADE TOFU

Steps:

• Bring soymilk to a boil in a pot on the stove. Turn off the heat and let cool to between 180 - 200 degrees F.
• Dissolve 1 teaspoon of nigari into 1 cup of warm water.
• Slowly pour 1/2 cup of nigari solution into the pot of soymilk and lightly stir. Wait 2 - 3 minutes and add more of the nigari solution until the soybean curd separates from the liquid.
• Strain the water from the curd and press into a mold to drain. The more you press the liquid out of the tofu the firmer it becomes. Be sure to press the desired amount of moisture out of the bean curd before it cools.
• Use immediately or store in water in a covered container in the refrigerator.

NONA'S TABLESIDE HOMEMADE SOFT TOFU

Steps:

• Soak the dry beans in water for at least 12 hours. Drain the beans. You want to end up with 14 ounces of soaked beans.
• Place a colander inside a larger bowl. Line the colander with a few layers of cheesecloth or a cotton towel. Use a blender to blend the beans with 14 fluid ounces of water. Pour into a nonstick saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir frequently. As soon as it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low; simmer and stir for about 3 minutes.
• Pour the soybean mixture into the lined colander. Gather the edges and twist the solids in a ball to wring out all of the liquid. I use a can to help press out all of the soy milk. You will need 3 cups of the soy milk, (24 fluid ounces). If you don't have enough, pour some more hot water over the soybean solids (okara) until you have enough.
• Pour the soymilk into a saucepan. Heat to 170 to 175 degrees F (75 to 80 degrees C).
• At the table, have a container ready that is about 4 inches deep and 4 to 6 inches across to make the tofu in. You can use any container that is big enough to hold the milk, but if it is too big, it will be more difficult to form the tofu.
• Measure the nigari into the container at the table first. Pour the hot soy milk into the container. No stirring is necessary as the act of pouring the liquid in stirs it enough to form the tofu. Wait for 3 to 5 minutes for the tofu to form. You can serve immediately, or refrigerate for later use.