I have now made multiple batches of tofu, and it is really easy. It’s a lot cheaper (and better) then commercial tofu, so I recommend it to others. I brought some to an East Asian potluck at my university and it was well-received.
I did the following:
1) Soak whole dried soybeans in cold water for 10–15 hours. Soak until you can split a bean in half with your thumbnail (lengthwise) and the middle is all one color and smooth. If the center is yellowish and concave, soak longer. I usually make 1 cup of soaked beans per batch.
2) Add 5 cups of water to a stockpot and turn it on high (electric range).
3) Add 1⅓ cups of water to the blender and add half the soaked soybeans. Pulse several times. Then liquify for 10 seconds. Scrape down the sides. Liquify again. One more time. The resulting puree should be smooth without large chunks of beans. Add the puree to the stockpot on the stove.
4) Repeat, grinding the rest of the beans. The puree is called go in Japanese. Rinse the blender with another ½ cup of water and add that to the stockpot as well.
5) Boil the go in the stockpot, stirring to avoid scorching the bottom. Be very watchful because the go will suddenly foam up very quickly and can boil over. When it starts to foam up, either add ½ cup of cold water and stir or remove the pot from the range for 30 seconds while stirring. You can also adjust the heat downwards to medium-high once you’ve reached the foam stage.
6) Continue boiling until the go no longer foams. This takes 15 to 20 minutes. In the end, you can see the go boiling and no foam is building up. This is when it is ready. Less boiling gives a “beanier” flavor, or so I read.
7) Prepare a bowl or saucepan with a colander set on top of it. Place a moistened flour sack (cotton) in the colander. Pour the go through the flour sack.
8) Wash the stockpot while you wait for the cooked go to cool slightly (but not more than 5 minutes, you need the go to remain hot for curdling).
9) Close the sack (make a bundle with the go inside) and squeeze out the soymilk. After you have squeezed it as much as you can, open the sack, shake the remains (called okara in Japanese) into the corner of the flour sack. Reclose the sack and this time twist to extract the remaining soymilk. Be careful. The okara is still very hot. You might try inserting your wooden spoon into the top layers and twisting the spoon while holding the bundle stationary with another object, like a mason jar.
10) You now have fresh soymilk and okara. The okara is high in protein and nutritious. You can use it in cooking. You can drink the soymilk or use it to make tofu.
11) Various coagulants exist for making tofu. The best, I hear, is nigari, which is extracted from seawater or refined and is mostly magnesium chloride. Commercial tofu factories use calcium sulfate (gypsum) because it gives a higher yield. I used epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) because it was cheap and easily available (I have not experienced any laxative effects from eating this tofu). For epsom salts, add 2 teaspoons to 1 cup of hot water, and stir to dissolve. This is your solidifier.
12) Stir the soymilk with a wooden spoon to make a whirlpool. Place the spoon in the middle of the whirlpool and pour ⅓ of the solidifer into the whirlpool. Use the flat edge of the spoon to slow the whirlpool by holding it against the direction of flow on the outer edge. Then stir the soymilk 5 or 6 times, being sure to include the sides and bottom of the pot. Place the spoon upright in the middle of the soymilk until the liquid stops moving, then carefully lift it out.
13) Sprinkle ⅓ of the solidifier over the soymilk. Cover, and wait 5 to 10 minutes.
14) Stir the top 2 to 3 inches of the batch very slowly with the spoon for about 15 seconds. You want to avoid breaking any curds. Examine the batch. You should see delicate curdles and yellow whey in the pot. If you see any milky or cloudy looking patches, you need more solidifier. Use your judgment, but it’s best to use as little solidifier as possible. If you need to add more, pour the remaining ⅓ onto the areas that are still cloudy. Even if you don’t add more solidifier, follow step 15. If you need even more solidifier, you can make more. Cut the original concentration by four for this extra batch.
15) Cover and wait 15 to 20 minutes for the curds to set a little.
16) Prepare a settling box. I used a cottage cheese container with holes poked into the bottom with a small phillips head screwdriver. I also poked holes in the side. This makes a round tofu cake about 4–5 inches tall. Place a moistened flour sack (you can reuse the one you used before, just remove the okara into a bowl and rinse the sack in cold water) into the settling container so that there are as few wrinkles as possible. You will get some wrinkles with a round container, so use a square one if you have one. I place my container over a colander or steamer tray over a saucepan.
17) Use a mesh sieve with a handle (like a ladle) to scoop the curds out of the pot and into the flour sack. Do this gently to avoid breaking curds. If the container becomes full, wait a minute or two and add more. As the whey drains, the curds will compact and you can add more. After pressing, the curds will reduce to about ½ the volume, so pack the container as full as you can to get a large cake.
18) Close the flour sack so that there is a smooth surface. Prepare a weight that will fit inside the container. I filled a wide-mouth mason jar about 60% with water and turned it upside down on top of the curds. A heavier weight and longer pressing time will make a firmer tofu. If you want firm tofu (for broiling or marinating), start with a light weight (1 to 2 pounds) and press for 15 minutes. Then use a heavier weight (5 to 7 pounds) and press for 45 minutes. For normal, soft, tofu use the light weight for 20 minutes.
19) Fill your stockpot with cold water (the colder, the better) and place it in the sink.
20) Unwrap the top layer of flour sack and examine the tofu. You can poke it to see if it’s as firm as you want. If it’s good, take the whole container and place it in the stock pot of cold water. After a minute, invert the container to let the flour-sack wrapped tofu slide out under water. The cold water is helping the curds firm up and set, so give the tofu time to cool down in the water before you unwrap it.
21) After a minute or two, gently unwrap the tofu under water. Rinse your equipment (in different water) while you let the tofu cool down.
22) If you’re using it immediately (or in the next day), just store it in a bowl in the fridge. It will drain, so don’t use a plate. If you want to store it, place it in a container with fresh, cold water and seal it. This preserves the tofu for several days. You should change the water daily. You can store tofu for 3 to 7 days this way. If it seems slimy when you want to use it, parboil the tofu to freshen it.
Note: The liquid that is drained from the tofu is whey. It is high in protein and edible, but you may want to avoid consuming it if you used epsom salts (due to laxative effects). It is also useful as a mild soap. You can use it to wash your pots or even your face. But don’t keep whey at room temperature for more than a half day- it will start to ferment.
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