homemade tofu?
It’s been awhile. And that’s because … I’m in culinary school! I enrolled at The Institute of Culinary Education as a student in the health supportive culinary arts program. It’s amazing, except for the four-hour daily commute. I’ve learned so much (see my IG account @adailydip for details and photos).
One of our classes was “Tofu and Tempeh” (since it’s a mostly plant-based course) and we made tofu from soy milk— and we made that soy milk from soybeans. As I watched chef Jay do his demo I thought to myself, how can I make this easier for myself at home? Now that I’m away from home all day and when I get home there is snack, homework, soccer, dog, dinner, dog, homework, bath and “please go to bed already!” So I asked, “Chef, can you make this with store-bought soy milk?” To which chef Jay answered “Great question!” Cut to me, beaming with pride. “Why don’t you try it at home?” Cut to me, distraught with an extra assignment.
The chef gave me some nigari (the coagulant/chemical which makes soy milk curdle into tofu curds) and told me to report back. I’m sure there are students who would have smiled, pocked the nigari and let it go at this point. But I am a lifelong nerd and so I immediately bought soy milk and started experimenting.
The first two batches were bunk and when I casually reported this back to Chef Jay (who scares the shit out of all of us) he responded in such a way that suggested that 1. he had completely forgotten about giving me the assignment; and 2. he had potentially completely forgotten who I was.
But I persevered. Because, well, see above. I threw out gallons of not-curdled-enough soy milk until I stumbled upon a recipe that clicked. It was an obscure website and yet there were two post-recipe comments that hit home, both of which alluded to the cook failing multiple times (as I did) and then finding success with this particular method.
It worked. I don’t know if it was the amount of nigari, the stirring configurations, the heating method or the fact that the pot was covered during the process. But the store-bought soy milk formed curds big enough to sequester into my tofu mold, and those curds actually formed a rectangle of delicious (creamy, rich!) tofu.
I’m not necessarily saying that I will make my own tofu from now on…but I’m happy that my experiment finally worked and that I can continue being the nerd that I’ve always been.
