What is a protein? It can be imagined as beads strung on a thread - these are amino acids. Our body needs eight of these amino acid beads, each with 5 pieces (tryptophan, valine, leucine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, methionine, threonine, lysine), to make a complete necklace. And soy foods contain all those amino acid beads! An excellent alternative to meat, because it is poorly digested, and soy is digested 4 positions better than meat, making up a solid basis for building our body. Animal proteins (proteins) worsen the functioning of the kidneys with their decay products: urea, creatinine, uric acid release toxins when digested.
Homemade tofu is good because soybeans make several dishes at the same time. Milk goes to cheese, and cake from it is excellent soy patties.
Ingredients for homemade tofu
- Soybeans - a glass of 500 ml.
- Juice of two lemons (can be peeled through an auger juicer).
- Spices:
- Zira - 0.5 tsp
- Dry dill - 2 tsp
- Dry parsley - 2 tsp
- Dry kelp algae (crushed in a coffee grinder) - 4 tbsp.
Useful properties of the product - what is the use of tofu?
One of the most valuable properties of tofu is the presence of a large amount of high-grade protein, which, unlike other products containing protein, eliminates the increase in cholesterol.
Benefits of Tofu:
- provides the body with vitamins, minerals, including calcium and iron;
- in the excretion of dioxin from the body - a substance that contributes to the development of oncology;
- high nutritional value, contains few calories and helps to lose weight;
- contains phytoestrogens - a plant analogue of sex hormones, useful for women during menopause and hormonal failures;
- improves kidney function, dissolves gallstones;
- included in the diet of people who are allergic to milk.
Tofu Cheese at Home: A Step-by-Step Recipe
- We wash the soybeans under a tap and fill them with water overnight 3 fingers above the beans themselves. They need to swell in the morning.
- We wash the swollen beans, add 500 ml of water and mix in a blender until smooth, like a thick puree. You may need more water, look at the condition so that the blender does not burn out from too thick a mass.
- Next, add water to the consistency of milk and blend again (preferably in a large bowl with an immersion blender, it may not fit in a blender bowl).
- Squeeze the resulting milk through cheesecloth into a saucepan, bring to a boil, stirring all the time, and boil for 2-3 minutes.
- We turn off our milk, add the juice of two lemons to it (previously squeezed in a juicer). We stir the milk, it begins to curdle from the juice, you can see how the "cottage cheese" is separated from the water.
- Let the milk cool for 30 minutes, then squeeze the resulting cottage cheese through cheesecloth.
- We put it in a press covered with gauze, so that it is convenient to pull out the pressed cheese, let it drain for 35 minutes under a weight. (As a press, improvised means were used: a metal sieve placed on a bowl, covered with gauze, in which the future cheese was located, there was a “load” on it in the form of a glass jar of water. The jar squeezed the cheese, water flowed through gauze and a sieve into a bowl).
- We take out the cheese, pour it into a bowl, mix with spices and return to the press again.
- After 2.5 hours, the cheese can be removed from the press, it will already be ready-made - bon appetit!
Since this is a high-protein product, we recommend eating it with dill / parsley or with a salad of greens and, for example, cabbage, carrots.
tofu variations
Cheese exists in three main forms, which differ in the way they are prepared:
Silken tofu contains the most liquid. At first glance, silken tofu looks like pudding. In Asian countries, soft cheese is used as a snack, adding onions, peppers and seafood.
Plain tofu contains moisture, but in smaller amounts. Cheese is considered hard, but softer in texture than dry. Linen tofu is similar to meat in structure, which leads to widespread use in the preparation of culinary dishes.
Dry tofu does not contain moisture, which is removed by high pressure. The dry product is similar to conventional hard cheeses, but crumbles when exposed.
What is the value of the product
Soy cheese is a storehouse of vegetable proteins, useful amino acids, vitamins and microelements. It does not contain cholesterol, and its calorie content per 100 g is 75 kcal.
| The nutritional value | Quantity, g |
| Water | 82.93 |
| Squirrels | 9.04 |
| fats, | 4.17 |
| Carbohydrates | 2.85 |
According to the USDA Nutrient Database, tofu contains 8 essential amino acids.
| Chemical composition (per 100 g of product) | Quantity, mg |
| Calcium | 201.0 |
| Potassium | 148.0 |
| Phosphorus | 121.0 |
| Magnesium | 37.0 |
| Sodium | 12.0 |
| Iron | 1.61 |
| Zinc | 0.83 |
| Selenium | 0.008 |
| Thiamine (vitamin B1) | 0.06 |
| Riboflavin (vitamin B2) | 0.06 |
| Nicotinic acid (vitamin B3) | 0.1 |
| Pyridoxine (vitamin B6) | 0.07 |
| Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) | 0.2 |
| Tocopherol (Vitamin E) | 0.01 |
Since bean curd has a low calorie content and the ability to be absorbed by the body by 90%, it is used during weight loss.
Eating tofu for breakfast and dinner in its pure form or as part of vegetable salads, you can lose 2-3 kilograms in a few days.
Liquid soy milk
Soy milk powder is a soft cream-colored powder with a pleasant nutty smell. It contains all the essential amino acids and is absorbed by almost 100 percent. The composition of soy flour includes many vitamins (A, B, C, E, P, etc.), calcium and iron salts, which makes soy milk very useful for patients with anemia, cardiovascular diseases.
Store soy milk powder in a cool, dry place.
Liquid soy milk is a delicious sweet drink of soft cream color with a pleasant smell. It is obtained from crushed and steamed soybeans. Soy milk corresponds to cow's milk 2% liquid. It is recommended for stomach ulcers, peritoneal irritation and increased secretion of the stomach, for diathesis, for feeding young children and adults, especially with food allergies. Used for cooking soups, cereals, pancakes, etc.
Store liquid soy milk in the same way as cow milk.
soy flour
Soy flour is very similar to wheat flour. She has a pleasant creamy color and a slight nutty smell. It is produced from soybeans. The value of flour lies in the fact that it enriches with vitamins, proteins and fat any product it contains. In addition, it increases the biological value of the product, bringing many benefits to those who have diabetes, stomach ulcers, high cholesterol levels in the blood.
Pancakes and pancakes are baked from soy flour, it is used as a substitute for eggs, milk and dough baking powder, adding in a ratio of 3 parts to 100 parts of wheat flour. Soy flour is also used in the preparation of meat dishes. At the same time, meat consumption is halved, and the protein content and energy value increase many times over.
Store soy flour in a cool, dry place.
Cheese in colorful colors
Now let's move on to the recipes themselves. We offer to start with fried tofu with vegetables. Even those who strictly follow the figure can afford this light but satisfying salad in a hurry.
- tofu - 200 g
- tomato - 1 pc.
- cucumber - 1 pc.
- avocado - 1 pc.
- lettuce leaves - 4-5 pcs.
- paprika, salt, black pepper, sesame seeds, herbs, lemon juice - to taste
- olive oil for frying and dressing
- flour - 2-3 tbsp. l.
We cut the tofu into large cubes, roll in a mixture of flour and paprika, quickly fry on all sides in a greased frying pan. Lay the fried cheese on paper towels. We cut the cucumber into semicircles, the tomato into slices, and the pulp of the avocado into a cube. We cover the bowl with lettuce leaves, lay out layers of fried tofu, tomato, cucumber and avocado. Drizzle the salad with olive oil and lemon juice, and before serving, sprinkle with chopped herbs and white sesame seeds.
Cooking process.
We will use 800-1000 ml of soy milk, kindly brewed for us by Joyoung soy cow. We will also prepare a coagulant: 3 g of magnesium chloride (it can be replaced with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice).
Pour milk into a saucepan and heat it to 80-85 C.
To control the temperature, it is convenient to use an electronic thermometer.
Then dilute the coagulant in a small amount of water. To make it dissolve better, you can take warm water.
Add coagulant to soy milk with constant stirring.
As will be seen from the next photo, magnesium chloride (as well as lemon juice) curdles hot milk almost instantly. If you use calcium sulfate, then the reaction will not be so lightning fast, you just need to stir the coagulant well in soy milk, cover the pan with a lid and wait.
After adding magnesium chloride, hot soy milk curdled almost instantly.
But no matter what coagulant we use, in any case, cover the pan with a lid and wait about 15-20 minutes until the coagulation process is complete.
At this time, you can prepare the tofu press and cloth for now.
We have prepared a press and a cloth in which we will spread curdled soy milk.
In this case, we use a plastic press, which is the best for a small amount of tofu - it does not take up much space and is easy to clean. If you will be making tofu with more than 2 liters of soy milk, then it is better to purchase a larger press. We also use fabric, in this case cotton.
After 15-20 minutes after adding the coagulant, you can transfer the curdled soy milk, in fact already tofu, into a press to remove excess moisture and give it the correct shape. As a result, we will get something like the following.
We put the tofu in the press
Now you can wrap the edges of the fabric up, cover the press with a lid and put some weight on top.
Using a cup of water as weight for a tofu press
Depending on the weight of the load, different amounts of water will be squeezed out of tofu, respectively, it itself can be a little softer or harder in consistency. After 30 minutes, the load can be removed.
After 30 minutes, linen tofu is ready.
Carefully remove the tofu from the press and place on a plate.
The photo shows a pattern that remained on the surface - the brand name of linen tofu. If you use a coarser fabric, this pattern will be even more noticeable.
We got a rectangular piece of linen tofu. Now it is very easy to cut it into beautiful cubes and use it for cooking various dishes.
Okara
Okara is soybean meal, cake. Obtained after soybeans have been squeezed out of liquid. Okara is a soft homogeneous moist mass, odorless, light yellow in color, with a high protein content. It is the only plant source of ferrous iron that is easily absorbed by the body. It contains a large amount of nutrients from whole soybeans.
Okara is used by adding it to wheat flour in a 1:1 ratio for making cookies, various dough products, sauces, gravies. When baking, okara can replace eggs. One egg = 1 tablespoon okara 2 tablespoons water.
Frozen can be stored for quite a long time, unfrozen - 12 hours.
How to store linen tofu
Tofu is stored in the refrigerator in a container of water.
Tofu is stored in this way - under a layer of water. Water must be changed every day. Thus, in the refrigerator, it can be kept fresh for several days.
By 2020, the prices for soy cookers and soybeans have changed slightly, however, the cost of home-made soy milk and tofu is still incomparably lower than the purchased one.
Thus, from 1 liter of soy milk, we got about 120 g of tofu. The weight can vary depending on many factors, but mainly on how hard we wring out the moisture from the tofu.
In our case, the cost of 120 g of linen tofu is 11.0 rubles or 92 rubles per 1 kg. Looking for where to buy tofu? Doing it yourself is much cheaper.
Soybean oil
Soybean oil is liquid, somewhat similar to sunflower oil, amber in color with a pleasant nutty smell, perfectly absorbed. It is prepared from soybean seeds. Contains linoleic acid, which prevents the growth of cancer cells, vitamins C and E, salts of potassium, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus. Vitamin E is necessary for the normal functioning of the gonads. Useful oil for diseases of the nervous system, kidneys. It improves metabolism, bowel function, improves immunity. Environmentally friendly.
Soybean oil is used for dressing salads, snacks, meat and fish dishes. Salad after dressing with soybean oil acquires a beautiful golden color.
Soybean oil is absorbed by the body much better than olive and sunflower oil.
You can store it for a long time without changing the quality.
Soy meat
Soy meat is made from defatted soy flour. By structure, it looks like minced meat, goulash or schnitzel. Soy meat is 54% protein. It is sold in dry form, therefore, before use, it must be boiled or soaked, while it increases in mass by 3-4 times, acquiring the shape and structure of semi-finished meat. It can be frozen and thawed several times, the nutritional and biological value does not deteriorate.
Soy meat is inexpensive, which allows you to save money.
Products: 150 g of boiled soy meat, 3 potatoes, 3 carrots, 4 small pickled cucumbers, 2 small beets, 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil, 2 onions, parsley, salt.
To prepare a snack, you need to boil vegetables, chop them finely, add soy meat, finely chopped pickles, onions, pour vegetable oil, add salt if necessary, and mix everything thoroughly. Sprinkle parsley on top.
Products: 400 g of boiled soy meat, 3 potatoes, 3 pickled cucumbers, 3 apples, 150 g of green peas, 1 glass of mayonnaise, pepper, herbs, salt.
To prepare the salad, it is necessary to peel and boil the potatoes, then cut all the products into small pieces, put in a bowl, add peas, season with mayonnaise and garnish with herbs.
Easy pan fried tofu recipe
Delicious appetizer ready in just 5 minutes. It can be eaten on its own, served with a side dish, or used in a salad. It turns out a complete protein meal, healthy and economical. Its calorie content is 234 kcal. I prefer to take linen tofu, it has a characteristic texture and print from the fabric on the surface. Often it is also called cotton. He loves temperature, so use only high heat when frying.
Required products:
- linen cheese;
- vegetable oil for frying.
Cooking:
1. Cut the tofu into fairly large flat pieces, about 5 mm thick. Send them to a frying pan heated with vegetable oil.
2. Fry until browned over high heat. This will take less than a minute, don't miss it! Turn over and fry the second side.
3. Transfer the browned cheese slices to a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Top with a second napkin and press it a little with your hands.
Serve with soy sauce - it's delicious! With tofu, I also recommend trying Japanese miso soup or making tender cheesecakes.
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