Tofu is a tradisional food in Indonesia, tofu is known for its extraordinary nutritional benefits, as well as its versatility. Tofu is a rather bland tasting product that easily absorbs the flavours of the other ingredients. Tofu is sold in water-filled packs or in aseptic cartons. Fresh tofu is usually packaged in water and should be refrigerated and kept in water until used. If the water is drained and changed daily, the tofu should last for one week. Tofu can be frozen for up to three months. Freezing will change its texture however, it will make the tofu slightly chewier.
Tofu is made by coagulating soymilk with salts such as calcium sulphate or magnesium chloride. Asian people make daily fresh tofu but. Home made tofu tastes very fresh and contains no preservatives.
Equipment you need is a tofu mould, which basically is a plastic or stainless steel container with holes.
Tofu in Indonesia known as TAHU. There are several kinds of tofu in Indonesia. There Sumedang tofu, round tofu, gejrot tofu, fried tofu, bacem tofu etc.
FIRST METHOD TO MAKE TOFU (Indonesia method)
Ingredient
a. 5 kg soybean
b. 1 gr calcium sulphate or CaSO4. Instead of calcium sulphate, you can also use 3 ml vinegar.
c. Water
How to make:
- Wash soybean cleanly
- Soak soybean in water for 8 hours
- Wash soybean again cleanly
- Mashed soybeans until crushed into pulp
- Cook the pulp soybean at temperature of 70-80° C. And do not let jell
- Strain the soybean flavor by using 1 g of calcium sulphate or 3 ml of vinegar. Stir slowly
- Forming the tofu
Tips:
to make tofu durable, wash out with clean water, drain and then input into a plastic bag and store in refrigerator. or soak in water and store in refrigerator
SECONT METHOD TO MAKE TOFU
Ingredient
To produce about 400 g of tofu you need 2 liter soy milk and two teaspoons natural calcium sulphate. Instead of calcium sulphate, you can also use nigari, but whichis more difficult to find. Another reason that I prefer calcium sulphate is that nigari has a slight bitter taste.
Curdling the milk
Boil the soy milk for about 5 minutes and cool down to about 70-80C. If you make soy milk with an automatic soy milk maker you only have to cool down the soy mil a bit, no need to boil it again.
Dissolve two teaspoons natural calcium sulphate in one cup of warm water. Do not leave the coagulant to long in the water, otherwise it will harden. Less coagulant produces softer tofu, more produces harder tofu. Pour the prepared coagulant solution slowly into the hot soya milk, while gently stirring the soya milk and allow the mixture to stand for 15 to 20 min. If there is still some milky area after adding all coagulant solution, mix some more to use. I also tried to add the calcium sulphate powder directly to the hot soy milk and that also worked!
Forming the tofu
Once all soya milk is separated into small white curds of tofu and an amber liquid, transfer this coagulated dispersion into a mould lined with cheese cloth. A small weight is placed on the lid of the container and allowed to sit for about 20 minutes. Empty the resulting block of tofu, which should be firm enough to hold together, into a tub of cold water, store it in the refrigerator and change soaking water daily. When you intend to eat the tofu the same day, or the day after, there is no need to store the tofu in water. To make tofu with extra texture, place it in a sealable container, cover with water and freeze. The tofu will have a more fibrous texture after thawing.