VeganMoFo: Homemade Tofu

Tofu! is for sale here

Medium: Watercolor on heavy Arches paper
Size: Approximately 8"x8" (image size is 7"x7")
Will fit in 8"x8" frame! Signed on back.

Note: I am doing a painting-a-day challenge for VeganMoFo, and will be creating a new painting of rescue animals or vegan food throughout the month of October, and placing them for sale. All proceeds (minus shipping) will be donated to For the Animals Sanctuary, because they are a pretty super-great non-profit animal rescue and sanctuary, in Blairstown NJ, and are vegan owned and operated. Feeding, housing, and taking care of these animals costs a lot of money, and as a non-profit organization, they rely entirely on donations. Hopefully (with your help!), I'll be able to make a size-able donation at the end of the month!

Soak your beans overnight!

I may have mentioned that I bought a soy milk maker and tofu box awhile back, and I have been happily making my own almond and soy milk and tofu ever since.  Both are such staples in my diet, that it was a no-brainer for me to invest in both, for environmental reasons and saving money reasons.  As long as you remember to soak your beans or nuts the night before, it is pretty minimal effort that you have to put in.  I thought I would give a basic tutorial of the steps that go into making tofu.  This is the Soy/Nut/Rice milk maker that I bought and the tofu box also. 

Add soybeans and fill with water to line inside.  Plug in and push button. Ta-da!

Machine beeps when soymilk is ready.  Pour into strainer into pitcher (both came with machine).   You are left with the okara (which is super-nutritious!  There are lots of recipes around that use this up)  I will usually make two batches of soymilk to put into the tofu box at once. 

Add a tsp. of Nigari (magnesium chloride) to 1 cup hot water and slowly pour into soymilk.  The tofu box that I bought came with Nigari crystals, but I just recently ran out (they lasted a LONG time).  I found this weird liquid version at a local Asian store. 

Weird separation occurs as the curd/whey do their thing.

Pour into cheesecloth lined tofu box and let slowly drain.  Once most of the liquid is gone, wrap up cheesecloth and put a heavy weight on lid and let sit for 10 minutes or so.   I'm aware that this photo looks totally gross.  

Magic tofu! Yum!