Tofu is the most widely used protein source in the vegan world. It is the result of mixing soy, water and a coagulant that will determine the flavor and the resulting texture.
There are many things we can do with tofu, but also, if we have a little time, we can make our own tofu at home. It’s easier than you might imagine and doesn’t require a lot of ingredients.
To prepare tofu it is necessary to use a coagulating agent, which binds the soy proteins and separates them from the whey. The most common are calcium sulfate and magnesium chloride, although it is also very practical to simply use lemon.
- Calcium sulfate. It is the first mineral coagulant that was used and the one that is usually used to prepare tofu of Chinese origin. This coagulant is nothing more than gypsum and is frequently used by the food industry.
- Magnesium chloride or nigari. Instead, the Japanese prefer to make tofu with magnesium chloride, a salt extracted from the sea that is known as nigari. This product, with the appearance of small white crystals, leaves a sour taste once dissolved in water.
- Lemon. It is becoming easier to get nigari in stores of organic products, but if we prefer, we can use lemon, a fruit that we usually always have on hand and that is much easier to find in any supermarket.
Any of them can be used to prepare homemade tofu, but they will provide different consistencies.
- With calcium sulfate you get a tender tofu, rich in calcium, but brittle, ideal for binding some croquettes.
- If we use nigari, we will get a sweet tofu, something more consistent and uniform.
- If we use lemon, we will obtain a consistent tofu and something more acidic. We can compensate for that extra acidity by marinating it with tamari, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce or other spices.
THE EASIEST WAY TO MAKE TOFU AT HOME
If you make your own tofu with lemon, it is preferable to use a soy filtrate as thick as possible.
To prepare:
- Pour the juice of a lemon into a liter of hot soy milk (between 50-60º C) and stir the mixture slowly with a wooden spoon.
- Then let it sit for about half an hour.
- Finally introduce it into a sieve, compressing it well, so that it loses all the serum and acquires its consistency.
