Tuesday, October 30, 2007

My Very Own Soy Milk Recipe (if you have to pick just one, this is it!)

Making home made soy milk at home it is possible, easy and very rewarding. Home made soy milk done the right way taste delicious and it costs three times less than its commercial counterparts and four times less than cow's milk. So check this out:

1. Utensils: nothing fancy, all you need you possibly have it at home. Please don’t buy anything: try garage sales first or your close by dollar store. To start with: a couple of pans, a colander, a piece of cloth to strain the soymilk (half a pillowcase will do, it is actually my favorite option after trying several), at least twelve cups of boiling water (I use a big water thermo), gypsum salt, measuring cups and spoons and a blender. If the jar is made out of glass, phenomenal. If not, it will work well anyways, but the plastic jar may end up damage.

2. 1 1/2 cups whole soy beans soaked for at least eight hours to a max of 12 in a lot of clean water. If the day is hot don’t hesitate to put them in the fridge, otherwise they may spoil.

3. Pre-heat the blender with boiling water (preferable) or at least the hottest tap water.

4. Pour eight and a half cups of water into pan and bring to a boil.

5. In the meanwhile put the beans into the blender with three cups of boiling water. Blend for a couple of minutes till it is apparent that the beans are all mashed and they are now a homogeneous slur.

6. When they are ready pour them into the pot with the boiling water. Turn off the heat and let it stand for five minutes, covered.

7. Meanwhile prepare a clean pot into the sink, big enough to hold the colander inside. Line the colander with a wet piece of cotton cloth or ideally half a pillow case (a friend of mine use one of this bags that are sold to hold plastic bags, with one end tided up.

8. Pour the soy slur over the lined colander that is already into the pot. Rinse the blender with 1/4 cup of boiling water and pour over the colander. Let it drain for a couple of minutes.

9. Add three additional cups of boiling water to the colander. Let it drain.

10. At this point you may want to accelerate the process by squeezing the soy residue (at this point called okara) with the back of a glass jar or even better, a potato masher.

11. When you extract all the milk possible squeeze the solids dry by hand.

12. Bring the pot over the flame and bring it to a boil. As soon as the boiling starts turn down the heat till medium because the idea is that the milk gently bubbles. Let it simmer for 7-20 minutes. If you plan to make tofu out of this batch of soy milk, seven minutes will be o.k. If you are planning to drink it boil it longer, to a maximum of 20 minutes.

13. Let it cool covered. Store it in a glass bottle or pitcher. Refrigerate. In glass it will last well over a week.

Notes:

* If your blender is not big enough to accommodate 1 1/2 cups of re-hydrated beans, divide them into two batches and grind each part with 1 1/2 cups of water.

* This is a highly digestible milk; I really like how it tastes although I recognized that can be kind of an acquired taste for newcomers to soy products. If this is your case feel free to add a pinch of salt to the almost 2 litres of soy milk that this recipe yields and a tablespoon or more of honey, good quality maple syrup, carob, coffee, etc.

* The pup that now is left in the colander it is called okara. It is a good source of proteins and fiber and tastes sweet and delicious. It is highly perishable out of the fridge, though. So I recommend to freeze it immediately in plastic bags.

* The okara as it is the by-product of this way to make soy milk it is raw and should be cooked thoroughly before consumed. Or you may want to steam it for 20 minutes before storing it

* You may want to gently greased the top of the pan where you are boiling the soy milk. It will prevent it from boiling over, which by the way it will happen as soon as you take your eyes off the whole operation. Been there, done that. It is not pretty, and in fact it is really messy.

I want to encourage you to experiment and have fun making soymilk. Please share your adventures with me. You can contact me at greenbutterflies@gmail.com

Keep in touch!

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