Making Soymilk at Home
Soymilk
One of the Most Nutritious Drinks: Soymilk
Soymilk is one of my favorite drinks. It's refreshing and can be consumed either hot or cold. Other names of soymilk include the following: soya milk, soybean milk, soy milk, soy juice. Regardless of what you want to call it, it's produced using the same main ingredient, "soy." Soymilk's protein content is very close to that found in cow's milk. For those who are lactose intolerant, soymilk might be a good substitute. However, you should first find out if you have any allergies to soy.
All About Soy (very good website) - Click on the link below to read more about the history of soy, its benefits, and so on.
- Soy milk
What is soy milk and what are its benefits? Instructions for making soy milk at home. Learn more about soymilk.
Soybeans in the Pod
History of Soymilk Production
The oldest evidence of soymilk production was dated around AD 25-220 in China (Wikepdia). Soymilk has become very popular. It is even found at Starbucks nowadays. How do you take your coffee? With "milk", "cream" or "soymilk" - clearly, as consumers, we have more options and more healthy choices.
Other Soy Products
Do you like tofu? I love tofu - deep fried, pan fried, steamed, as a dessert, and so on. Soymilk is used to make tofu. You can find a lot of useful information about soy at http://www.soya.be/. I'm sure many of you have ordered endamame (soybeans in their pods) when you eat out at Japanese restaurants. We also get bean sprouts from soybeans. Last but not least, soysauce is - as starightforward as its name, made from soy. As you can see, soy is so versatile!
How About Making Your Own Soymilk?
Yes, I am going to show you how you can make soymilk using a blender so you can enjoy a glass of soymilk anytime of the day. Although it's time consuming, the rewards are endless and you will be delighted to taste your homemade soymilk. If you are busy and don't have the time, you can invest in a soymilk maker. It can be a great helper if you want to make a lot of soymilk.
Tools From Your Kitchen
Gadgets, Ingredients, and Production
Gadgets:
Blender, pot, sieve (sifter) or cheesecloth, tea strainer, large bowl, spoon, wooden spoon, cup (for measuring soybeans and water)
Ingredients:
soybeans, water, sugar (for sweetened soymilk)
Productions:
Before making soymilk, soak the soybeans for at least 6 - 12 hours. I like to soak them overnight. How much soybeans to use depends on the amount of soymilk that you want to make. Don't worry that you will waste the soybeans because if you cannot use all of them in making the soymilk, you can simply boil them or make soybean soup. To begin and test your soymilk making skills, why not start with one cup of dried soybean? As you get more experienced, and if you like the drink, you can then increase the amount.
THE FUN BEGINS..........
- Thoroughly wash the soybeans and discard any bad ones. Measure 1 cup (I use a 6 oz glass) of presoaked soybean and pour them into the blender. NOTE: Make sure to use this same cup to measure the amount of water that you add to the soybean. Add 3 cups of water (filtered or tap) to the soybean (Ratio 1 : 3).
- Set your blender to "grind" for 15 seconds and then to "blend" for 10 seconds.
- Pour the soy juice into the sieve and let it drain into the bowl. Using a large spoon, press on the grinded soy to squeeze out the remaining juice. When all the soy juice has been squeezed out, remove the soy from the sieve and discard.
- Continue this process until you reach the amount of soy juice that you desire.
- Now, pour the soy juice into a soup pot and set it to medium high heat (uncovered). Ocassionally, stir with a wooden spoon. As the temperature increases, you need to stir it more often (almost constantly) and lower the heat setting a little (to prevent a burning taste). When you see steam coming out, that's when you will also see a whitish film on top of the liquid. Remove it and any bubbles with a spoon.
- When the soy juice reaches boiling point, add sugar to suite your taste. Let it simmer for a minute or two. Done. Now you have made soymilk! Let it stand on your stovetop for about 30 minutes. Then, a thin layer (a wrinkly film) will form...this is what I call fresh "tofu skin." I like to eat it. Give it a try and see if you like it too.
- Pour soymilk into a sieve over a bowl, bottle, or any container you want to hold the drink. Enjoy healthy and nutritious soymilk!
Note: Soymilk can be kept in the fridge for a few days.
Here is one of the many soy milk makers available on the market. I choose to include this particular product because I saw it at a supermarket, where they presented a demonstration of this soy milk maker.
This is not the priciest soy milk maker on the market. Many cost over $100. Amazon.com has a wide selection of soy milk makers.
