LAB NOTES: Non-Soy Tofu: Four Bean Tofu Challenge.
Last weekend I made two batches of tofu. A batch of tofu made from kidney beans, and a batch of tofu make from Great Northern Beans. I was talking with Azzie about my findings and she asked “What would happen if you mixed them? Would the tofu be firmer” So, that is what this experiment is designed to find out. Except that, I’m using four of the beans that I’ve made tofu out of.
Non Soy Tofu: Four Been Tofu EXPERIMENT 01:
Proposition: Take soaked Kidney Beans, Pinto Beans, Great Northern beans, and Chickpeas and make tofu after blitzing in the blender. I’ll see how firm this turns out.
INGREDIENTS:
42g/ Kidney Beans (Dry weight )
42g/ Great Northern Beans ( Dry weight )
42g/ Pinto Beans ( Dry Weight )
44g/ Chickpeas ( Dry Weight )
TOTAL BEANS: 170g
680g of water ( Water = Dry Weight in g of Beans X 4 = W. 170g X 4 = 680g )
1 tsp of baking powder
947g of cold water.
1000w set to 80C/176F for 20 minutes stirring constantly
Yield: 890g of pressed Four Bean tofu.
LAB NOTES: 05 May, 2023
I actually started this experiment on Thursday ( 04 May, 2023 ) when I set the 170g of beans to soak in a one quart Mason jar with a teaspoon of baking powder and enough water to fill the quart jar, lidded it and put the jar in the refrigerator. I’ve found that quart Mason jars are quite handy for soaking things, or cold brewing coffee. I drained and rinsed the beans, weighed 680g of water into the blender jar and added the drained beans into the blender jar along with a large pinch of salt.
As per usual, I blended the water, beans, and salt for five minutes.
When that was done, I poured the slurry into a four quart saucepan.
Then I put the saucepan onto the burner on low heat. I stirred the slurry constantly until it reached the desired consistency. While the slurry was cooking down, it took about twenty minutes.
I dampened some cheesecloth and lined the tofu press to get it ready.
When the slurry was cooked down, I put it into the press, folded the cheesecloth over top of the tofu.
Then I put the press part of the press on top.
I set the press aside to cool. Once it was cool, I put the tofu into the refrigerator and will leave it overnight. I’ll find out tomorrow how firm it is, as well as how it tastes.
CONCLUSIONS: 06 May, 2023
I removed the four bean tofu from the press and the yield was 890g. The tofu appears to be firm. It will be interesting to see how it tastes when cooked.
This was an interesting experiment. While it worked, unless the flavour is tremendously better than the other tofus that I’ve made. I probably won’t repeat it with this particular mix of beans.I thank Azzie for the question that triggered this challenge. The answer is, that yes, this tofu is firmer than the tofu produced with Great Northern Beans alone. If any of you readers decide to give this a try, let me know how it turned out for you via contact. If you have suggestions of something culinarily for me to try out please feel free to send a message via contact.
Keep Safe!
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