Have you bought excess soymilk from store and are wondering how to use it? Make tofu – it’s simple – just follow these tips on How To Make Tofu With Store-Bought Soy Milk and enjoy your soft white blocks.

Introduction: Tofu, also known as bean curd, is an important part of Asian cuisine because of its nutritious qualities. Rich in protein, iron and calcium, tofu is made by coagulating soymilk and has very little smell or flavor of its own. That’s why it is used in both sweet and savory dishes. Making tofu from store-bought soymilk is tricky because preservatives used in soymilk preparation may prevent you from getting the necessary texture. However, coagulants like vinegar or salts like calcium sulfate or magnesium chloride can still help you make great tofu at home.

Step 1: Boil the store-bough soymilk in a large pan. Remove it from heat and add one-fourth cup vinegar into it immediately. Use a wooden spoon and stir the liquid. Sooner, small curds will appear in the liquid.

Step 2: Separate small pieces of curds from the whey. If you want smaller curds, you need to do the process immediately after curds appear in the soymilk. However, if you want to make larger curds, you need to add a few extra teaspoons of vinegar. Beware of adding extra vinegar in soymilk as it may sour taste of the tofu.

Step 3: It is not possible to separate all small curd pieces from soymilk while making tofu. So tie a piece of cheesecloth on the pot in which you have cheese content and pour it with all its ingredients over the sink. This will allow you to collect the curd in the cloth and drain the unwanted liquid. Instead of doing it over the sink, it is recommended to do it over a pot, so that even if the cheesecloth drops, the curd don’t go waste.

Step 4: Give a brick or rectangle like shape to the curd, using your hand. Now, tightly wrap the cheesecloth around the curds and place a heavy pot or frying pan on it.

Step 5: Keep the weight for half an hour on the curds and remove it to see whether or not you got the required texture. If not, place the weight again until it gives you the texture and holding ability. Then, unwrap the curds from the cheesecloth and cut it into squares.

Step 6: If you are planning not to use tofu immediately after making it, don’t forget to keep it in the refrigerator. You can keep homemade tofu maximum week in refrigerator. Though it is always recommended to eat fresh for best results.

Image Credit: Wikipedia