Makin' Tofu!

Recently I got curious about how to make tofu. I knew it was made from soy beans, but that was about it. I love cooking with tofu, but I think I would love it even more if I knew how to make it, so I started doing research.

Turns out, tofu is made in a similar set of steps (albeit easier on face value) than cheese. The first step is to basically make soy milk, then use a coagulant to remove the 'curds', and finally press to achieve the final consistency desired. Before making the soy milk, you've got to soak the hard soy beans in water for a day or so--similar to many other kind of beans.

I've started the process today, and this post will have pictures added as they come along. The recipe I'm following at the moment is here, though instead of using nigari (minerals derived from seawater) or lemon juice, I'll be using rennet. Well, according to this I will have to use either an acid coagulation or salt coagulation, since rennet does not curdle the proteins in soy milk.

Update
Using lemon juice was a disaster, it never set up well enough to form. I guess I'll have to mail order some nigari here soon.