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Finally! We are comparing tofu coagulants from traditional (gypsum and nigari) to accessible store-bought ingredients (lemon, epsom salt, and two vinegars). Let’s find out which coagulant is best to use for homemade tofu.
ALSO...
What are these tofu coagulants made of?
How do the acids work versus mineral salts?
Do they make different textures?
Does the coagulant choice affect the size of the curds?
How do they taste?
THE TOFU COAGULANTS USED TODAY
Gypsum - aka calcium sulfate, a tasteless naturally occurring mineral salt traditionally used in tofu-making, especially Chinese tofu.
Nigari - the name for this mineral salt comes from the word for “bitter” in Japanese. Nigari is the liquid leftover after concentrating seawater and removing the sea salt (sodium chloride) from it. This leftover brine is mainly magnesium sulfate and can be sold as a liquid or flakes/powder.
Lemon Juice - with a pH between 2.4 and 2.6, I use bottled lemon juice to avoid natural variations in fresh lemons.
Apple Cider Vinegar - with pH 2.4, this acid has a fermented apple flavor. It’s really common in the vegan / health and wellness sphere which is why it’s our first vinegar to test.
White Vinegar - same 2.4 pH as ACV, this acid is in every grocery store and usually very cheap. Of course we have to try it out too!
Epsom Salt - aka magnesium sulfate, can be found at pharmacies. However, you don’t want to be using regular bath salts (they are “for external use only”). It comes in crystals and should act the same as nigari…but will it?
TOFU-MAKING SUPPLIES
www.marystestkitchen.com/tofu...
TRADITIONAL TOFU-MAKING PROCESS
This is Chinese-style traditional tofu wherein soy milk is coagulated and the soy curds are pressed into a block to make high protein, bouncy tofu. In this test of tofu coagulants, I will
1. make the soymilk exactly the same way,
2. stir in the coagulants the same way and at the same temperatures, and
3. use the same model of tofu press to form the blocks.
All of the conditions and timings will be made as exact as possible in a home kitchen (and within a real-life!)
All of the non-gmo, Canada-grown soybeans were bought at the same time and from the same brand.
Since I have only two of my favorite identical tofu presses, I conducted the same process 3 times in succession:
1. Cold soak 500g dried soybeans (for 250g of beans per tofu block) overnight in the fridge (about 12-14 hours). Then drain and pick out any bad beans.
2. Divide the drained beans into two equal portions. Then blend each portion with 1180 ml water on the highest speed in Vitamix E10 for 25 seconds. Put the puree through a nut milk bag and strain as much as possible.
3. Combine the milk from both portions, skim off foam, then cook milk while stirring continuously. It’s heated to a boil, heat is a adjusted for a gentle simmer; 10 minutes to cook through.
4. Cooked milk is measured, then divided into two equal portions.
Each portion is heated to 180°F and coagulant mixture is stirred in. The heat is turned off and soymilk is covered with a lid to rest on the warm stovetop for 15 minutes.
5. The curds are transferred to the prepared tofu press, wrapped in cloth, and a pressing lid is added. Excess whey is poured off, then the whole tofu press is refrigerated until the next morning (about 20 hours).
Lastly, the tofu is revealed! We look at the outside texture, cut inside, texture when broken by hand, and taste.
OTHER COAGULANTS NOT USED
GDL - glucono delta lactone - is commonly used by commercial tofu manufacturers in conjunction with calcium sulfate or magnesium chloride. Unfortunately, I could not get it in time for this video. Plus it’s kind of expensive.
Lime juice - reported by commenters to work. But it’s similar enough to lemons so I believed the test would be redundant.
Other mineral salts and acids available at grocery stores- would be interesting to test and taste the differences. So many ingredients, so little time!
RESULTS
Were you surprised by the results? I have made tofu with all of these coagulants before but with slightly different processes or conditions. Making them side-by-side, one after the other, was another experience all together.
Were the results of these different tofu coagulants something you expected? Did this video change your mind about using store-bought ingredients to make tofu? Will you try a traditional coagulant that you hadn’t before? Or will you stick to your ol’ faithful? Please let me know in the comments!
I hope you enjoyed this video, my friend. I sure did enjoy making it. In case you're interested, I wrote more details about the experiment here: www.marystestkitchen.com/whic...
Thanks for watching & Happy New Year!
Cheers,
Mary