The Book Of Tofu

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Tofu makers have frequently told us that a number of their customers order soymilk daily for use as a medicine as well as a tasty beverage. Many Japanese claim that soymilk helps bring out the natural luster of the skin, and, in fact, people who work in tofu and yuba shops are well known for their fine complexions. Many a tofu maker has told us how, when his nursing wife's milk supply decreased or failed, she fed the baby soymilk, often using it as a basic food until weaning time. And even today, many pregnant and nursing women drink soymilk to increase the quality and flow of their milk. Soymilk is also thought to be effective 'in curing constipation and intestinal disturbances in children.

The point can well be made that soymilk is a better and more convenient way of using soybeans as a food than tofu. It is considerably easier to make, takes less than one-half the time, requires less fuel and equipment, and therefore costs less; it contains 83 percent of the protein originally present in the soybeans (tofu contains only 73-1/2 percent due to losses in the whey and soaking water); it is a simpler food since no solidifier need be added in its manufacture; it contains the full, subtle sweetness of the soybeans, which gradually diminishes in proportion to the length of time the resultant kinugo shi or regular tofu is soaked in water; and it can be fed even to babies who are too young to eat tofu.

Used for centuries to make doufu-ru, a soft Chinese cheese-like product fermented in brining liquor, soymilk can also be used to make Western-style cheeses. Furthermore, it can be fermented with the same starters as dairy milk to make delicious and inexpensive homemade yogurt. In Westernstyle cookery, soymilk may be used in any recipe calling for dairy milk.

HOMEMADE SOYMILK
(MAKES 3?1/4 CUPS)

The recipe given below is the traditional one used in Japanese tofu shops. This rich, thick soymilk contains 5.5 percent protein (versus 3% for dairy milk). Using store-bought soybeans, it can be prepared at home for less than one-half the cost of dairy milk and should be ready to serve 20 minutes after you start. If you are not preparing homemade kinugoshi or yuba and desire a slightly larger yield of soymilk, heat 1 (instead of 1/2) cup water in the cooking pot initially. The utensils you will need are included among those required for preparing Homemade Tofu (see MOTHER NO. 41, pg. 40).

1 cup soybeans, washed and drained 3 times,
soaked in 2 quarts 70° F water for about 10
hours, then rinsed and drained twice
4 cups water, approximately

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