Home-made Soy Bean MilkI couldn't find soy bean milk here. Or they do sell soy bean milk in most supermarkets, but they are not of the brand I'm used to (i.e. Yeo's) and look too healthy for my liking - so I make my own nowadays. The other day I saw tofu at Esselunga - but on reading the ingredients, it's actually tofu made partly with cow's milk which I thought sounded weird. I'm difficult with things that come in a packet in general.
Since making soy bean milk is so easy, I can't whinge about it. And with it you can also make tofu flower (a jellied soy bean curd), tofu (of course) and use the okara (what's left when you've finished squeezing out the milk) to bake bread etc (e.g. I dried roasted some and added them to the meat dumplings, Hub wondered why it tasted funny but ate them all - haha). For while the okara is tasteless, it contains most of the fibre in the soy bean so you may not want to throw all of it away. And throw away it'll have to be otherwise since I have no cow to feed it to.
I do my soy bean milk the easy way, meaning soaking the beans overnight. After which I would drain the water, microwave the beans for a few minutes, add 1.5litres of water to 500g of soy beans and then grind them in the mixer in batches.
I would then squeeze out the milk either with a cheese cloth or pass it through a metal sieve. Then boil the milk with a bit of fructose (I like my soy bean milk slightly sweet), pass it through the sieve again. Cool the milk and then pour it into plastic bottles to chill in the fridge.
Back in Singapore I love having soy bean milk first thing in the morning, followed by a warm bowl of sweetened freshly-made tofu flower. Simple luxuries that we do not have here.
Meanwhile I've been asked why I haven't been blogging much lately. Well, it has been raining alot in the past week and I get alot of wind around my house which breaks things and upsets my ADSL connection. Plus the grey weather gets me down, I'm busy with quite a number of social (mainly lunches) and other events, have to pack for our coming ski week (which is depressing as none of my 4 ski pants fit anymore) and the best one - I hurt my left arm quite badly practising golf a few days ago. Practising is a big word since it happened as I tried to hit my very first ball of the morning. Hit the ground instead and the impact sent a shock all the way up my left arm and whatever muscle I have there is now swollen.
Do take care when you exercise as your muscles do get injured if you are not used to doing something strenuous regularly.
RépondreSupprimerOn another note about the soy bean milk, I always wondered if the European rennet, you know that intestine thing that European farmers used to make their cheese curdle would also make soy bean curd, tau kwa thingy?
Since its hard to get gypsum as its not Asia, would rennet do, did you experiment on this?
Homemade is by far the BEST way to have soy milk...My mom used to make it growing up...
RépondreSupprimerThe Japs use Nigari (a kind of salt) to make Tofu and we can get it here in Modena (1,50 euros for a small packet) in the organic shop NaturaSi.
RépondreSupprimerBut I usually buy my tofu from the Chinese shop as we don't eat enough to make it worth my while. I'm trying to educate my kids on the subject but so far only Baby Girl is interested, the rest of them think it's beurk.
I love tofu.
Oh dear, do take care. I remember when I was young, my grandparents used to make soya milk at home... brings back memories. :) These days I can't take beans so sad, else my arthritis will act up. No point suffering the pain.
RépondreSupprimerSIG, is your blood group "O"?
RépondreSupprimer