Thoughtful Foods

Ingredients

•     400 g whole soybeans (2 3/4 to 3 cups) that's 13 ounces
•     15 g calcium sulfate (approximately 3 tablespoons) that's half an ounce

Method

1. Clean whole soybeans by removing dirt and damaged soybeans.
2. Soak 400 g of cleaned dry whole soybeans in 5 times top quality water by weight overnight or at least 8 hours at room temperature. That's 2 1/2 quarts water, and you should soak in the refrigerator if it is very hot outside.
3. Drain and rinse with cold water(weight of the soaked beans is about 800 g). You can freeze the beans at this point. You can start here with thawed frozen soaked soybeans; thaw overnight in the refrigerator or pour hot water over them so they are warm before you blend, or they will chill the boiling water so you lose the effect you are aiming for!
4. Grind the soaked soybeans into slurry in a glass-topped or stainless steel blender in 3000 g (that's about 3 quarts and a cup- do it in batches in a home blender) soft water for 3 minutes at high speed.
5. Filter through 4 layers of cheesecloth to remove fibrous materials/ pulp (raw okara). Collect the liquid portion. Set aside the okara. Be sure to cook this okara before using it in recipes.
6. Simmer the soymilk for 10 minutes (Ellen says bring to a boil that can't be stirred away, turn down just below the boil and count 7-8 minutes exactly, stirring vigorously in one direction. Weigh out 3000 grams
7. Cool the cooked soymilk to 80 degrees C/ 180 degrees F. Monitor the temperature of soymilk closely with a thermometer.
8. Add the preheated coagulant solution (15 g or one half ounce)calcium sulfate in each 100 ml (scant half cup) boiled water to the soymilk with agitation. (Ellen's note: Cut in 3/4 of the coagulant. Cut gently but persistently in one direction, do not whip or beat. As soon as the curd begins to firm, immediately STOP stirring and cover. Allow the curd to set without disturbing for 10 minutes. If there are any milky patches, shake up the coagulant again and stir in a little more coagulant this way: sprinkle the rest of the solidifier in and poke the top gently and let it sit again for a few minutes. Make sure to stir coagulating tofu gently so as not to break up the curds. It ends up soft white clumps in a yellow whey. If the coagulant is poured in too fast or beaten, the curd breaks apart and won't clump well. Too slowly and it starts coagulating early, creating hard blocks.
   *In general, the amount of coagulant is 0.25 to 0.5% of cooked soymilk by weight. Ellen's note: If you don't have calcium coagulant, try to get it, but if you can't, to prepare your solidifier, combine 1 cup warm water with one of the following: 2 tsp. Epsom salts, 2 tsp. nigari, 1/4 cup vinegar or 1/4 cup lemon juice. They take about twice as much volume and need about twice as long as the calcium sulfate.
9. Break/cut the curd evenly into cubes. Transfer coagulated dispersion into a tofu mold lined with layers of cheese cloth. (Note: Cheesecloth should be long enough to fold over the top of the filled block. You can rinse and reuse the cheesecloth you used for straining out the okara. You can make a tofu mold from any plastic container with holes punched in it, up to the size of a loaf of bread for a large block. I use the smaller of two nesting plastic containers as my tofu mold. I rest it over the larger one on chopsticks, to catch the whey (a great cleaner and skin care product- lecithin and natural detergents). Spoon and tofu mold should be freshly dishwasher clean and not contaminated for best results. No fabric softener on the cheesecloth.
10. Fold cloth over curds, cover with a lid that fits inside the mold, weighted with a rinsed 2 pound can of food, and press for at least 15 minutes- or use more weight or press longer for a very firm tofu. After the whey has run off and the mass is pretty solid, I press for 20 minutes or longer under 3-5 pounds of weight, then I empty the larger container of whey, wash it and use it to store the tofu under water! 
11. Remove tofu lid, unfold the cloth and remove from the tofu mold. Cut tofu into pieces and soak covered in cold water 5 minutes before handling, to firm it.
12. Hold the tofu covered in cold water in the refrigerator and change soaking water daily.
13. In the East, tofu is eaten within two days or dried or frozen. Your homemade tofu will keep from 3 up to 7 days depending on your technique and the temperature of your refrigerator.