Do you like tofu? It's one of Japanese healthy food made from soybeans which is called "meat from the field".

Tofu recently draws attention as a healthy option with good protein, low fat and low calories all over the world.

This Japanese super food provides various effects to our health but the method of production is not widely known. Actually, if you have a certain tool, you can easily make nutritious tofu with full of soy flavor at home.

This blog post shows you how to make your own tofu.

What you need to prepare

To make tofu, you need to boil soybeans to separate protein and solidify it again. The only special thing you need to prepare is the tofu mold. Once you get this mold, you can make tofu by using ingredients or tools you can easily get or already have at home. What you need is;

• Soybeans: 300g
• Bittern: 12.5ml
• Bowl
• Big pot
• Ladle
• Measuring cup
• Sieve
• Blender
• Cooking thermometer
• Spatula
• Filter cloth
• Finishing cloth

*Bittern and both cloths are included in the tofu mold kit.

How to make tofu

1. Soak dried soybeans in water

From 300 g of dried soy beans, you can make 2 blocks of tofu. Soybeans absorb water and get about three times bigger so leave them in plenty of water for a night.

Once they get tender, put them into the blender with the same amount of water and mix well until it gets creamy.

2. Boil soybeans

Boil 1300 cc of water in the bigger pot and add blended soybeans. Once it's boiled, turn the stove off and stir it slowly with spatula not to burn it. After bubble goes down, cook it over low heat for 10 minutes again.

The bottom part burns onto the pot very easily so make sure to stir well and slowly from the bottom. You can also add cold water 100 cc each to prevent it from heating up too much. This technique is called "surprising water" in Japan. This time, I added water three times so 1600 cc of water was used in total.

3. Strain out soybeans to separate pulp and milk

Put soybeans soup into the filter cloth and wring it on the sieve into the bowl. Remember to use wooden spatula because it's very hot. At last, squeeze it with your hands after let them wet. 

4. Heat up strained soy milk

Put strained soy milk back to the pot and heat it up until it becomes 80 degrees Celsius. Please be careful with this temperature. If it's too low, it won't be solid and if it's too high, tofu will be tough.

Soy pulp left in the cloth won't be used for tofu but still contains rich nutrition and flavor from soybeans. You can fully enjoy it by cooking into other food.

5. Add bittern into soy milk

Bittern solidifies soy milk to make tofu shape. Add 12.5 cc of bittern into 50 cc of warm water. If you mix it too well, tofu will be tough. Pour bittern liquid into soy milk like drawing circles and mix it slowly from bottom with wooden spatula only twice or three times. 

6. Pour it into the mold

Once bittern is added, tofu starts to get solid in 15 minutes. Set the finishing cloth on the mold and move tofu into it with the ladle slowly.

Do this around the sink as water comes out from the bottom of the mold.

7. Wait until it gets solid

Place the lid and 500 - 800 g of weight on the mold for 15 minutes. If this weight is heavy or placed for long, tofu will be tougher and richer. If it's light or placed for short, it will taste lighter and lusher.

Once tofu gets solid, move it into the bowl and steep it in water for 30 minutes. This gets rid of harshness of bittern and makes mild tofu.

Real tofu has the best nutrition and taste!

Today, we have less opportunities to have real classic tofu even in Japan due to rationalization of manufacture. Tofu made with traditional process provides you with not only a lot of nutrition from soybeans but also sweet rich taste and flavor.

You can simply enjoy with soy sauce and chopped spring onions.

If you fry it in the pan, it can be tofu steak.

You can even add it into minced meat so usual hamburger would be healthier.

I hope you will enjoy delicious and nutritious "real tofu" with your family and friends. You will definitely feel the differences once you make it by yourself :)