Tofu

Home-made tofu isn’t very smooth and it’s quite soft. You can press it to make it harder, or add more nigari as you make it.

Jung Eue Chae's homemade tofu. Credit: Armelle Habib / Hardie Grant Books

• serves

  2

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 200 g (7 oz) dired soy beans
• ½ tbsp perilla oil (available at Asian grocers)
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp nigari solution (mixed with 2 tbsp water)

Soaking time: 8 hours.

Pressing time: 25-60 minutes.

Instructions

1. Wash the soybeans and rinse them thoroughly two or three times.
2. Place in a bowl, cover with cold water and leave to soak for about 8 hours. Once soaked, the beans will weigh about 400 g (14 oz).
3. Drain the water from the soybeans and add them to a blender with double the weight of water, about 1 kg (2 lb 3 oz). Blitz until smooth (the smoother the soybeans, the more tofu you will get).
4. Pour the soybean purée into a cotton cloth, gather the corners and squeeze as much soymilk as you can through the cloth into a bowl.
5. Add 500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) water to the cloth, then gather the corners and squeeze again. (Keep the soy pulp for making ground soybean stew with pork.) Store liquid in the fridge for up to 3 days (or in the freezer for longer).
6. Transfer the soymilk to a large pot and simmer over a low heat for 15 minutes, skimming any foam that rises to the surface.
7. After 15 minutes, add the perilla oil and sea salt. (Perilla oil not only prevents foaming but also enhances the rich, savoury flavour.) Slowly add the nigari solution to the soymilk. Cover with a lid and simmer over the lowest possible heat for 5 minutes.
8. Check the clarity of the soymilk. If it is clear, then you can move on to the next step. Otherwise, make some more nigari solution by mixing ½ tsp nigari with 1 tbsp water and add this. Repeat until you get clear soymilk.
9. Pour the curds into a tofu mould or fine-mesh sieve lined with a cotton cloth or muslin (cheesecloth). Fold the cloth over the tofu and place a flat, heavy object on top to weigh it down. If you want extra-firm tofu, leave the weight for about 1 hour. For medium–firm, leave it for 15–25 minutes.
   

This is an edited extract from Chae: Korean Slow Food for a Better Life by Jung Eun Chae (Hardie Grant Books, HB$60). Photography by Armelle Habib.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.