HOMEMADE TOFU USING LIQUID NIGARI

To make your own delicious tofu you will need fresh soy milk, ideally made from scratch or if store bought, from the refrigerated section (fresh soy milk, not UHT), and then proceed to make the tofu as outlined in the recipe. It really is fairly easy to do, but does require time and a few equipment. Your reward is tofu that is incredibly tasty and versatile.

Author

Chef Trystan Petrash (Ontario, Canada)

Category

Ingredient

Cuisine

asian, vegan, vegetarian

Ingredients

• Heavy bottom pot with lid
• Tofu mold with muslin cloth
• Wooden spatula
• Fine mesh strainer, optional
• Tray or roasting pan (to hold tofu mold), optional
• 8 cups (2 liters) fresh soy milk
• 2 tsp Vancouver Island Sea Salt nigari
• ½ cup warm water (preferrably filtered water), optional

Directions

1. Heat 8 cups of the fresh soy milk in a heavy bottom pot on medium high until just scalding, around 83C/180F for 5 minutes to make sure it is heated through. Turn off the heat and let the soy milk sit for another 5 minutes.
2. Add the liquid nigari in a ½ cup of warm filtered water, then pour a half of it into the hot soy milk. If using only liquid nigari, add 1 tsp to the soymilk.
3. Gently stir the milk with a spatula in a figure 8 pattern, around six to eight times to get things moving and to help distribute the nigari evenly. Stop the flow by keeping the spatula in the center of the pot until the soymilk has stilled. Cover and wait for three minutes.
4. Remove the lid, add the last of nigari, stirring gently in a figure 8 motion for about 20 seconds. The soymilk should be curdling. Cover and let sit for 15-20 minutes.
5. Line the tofu mold with a damp muslin cloth, letting the edges drape over the sides. Place the tofu mold inside a baking dish or a tray (to catch the whey in the next step).
6. Carefully ladle the curds into the mold a little bit at a time allowing whey to drain out before adding more.
7. After all curd has been placed in the mold, gently tap the mold to even the curd out and dispel air bubbles. Fold the muslin cloth over the curds, then place the mold cover on top.
8. Weigh down the tofu to compress the curds. We use any two full tins from our cupboard as weights, making sure the weight is evenly distributed.
9. The longer the tofu sits in the mold the firmer it will be. With a 500 gram/1 lb weight, allow at least 15 minutes for a medium- firm tofu. Following this recipe, our yield was 340g, roughly 12 oz of very firm tofu.