Andrew’s Asian Marinade:

• 2 tbsp. soy
• 3 tbsp. hoisin sauce (easily found in the Asian section)
• 2 tbsp. EVOO
• juice of half a lemon
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• a few scallions (I used regular onion diced into tiny pieces b/c I was fresh out of scallions)
• 1/2-1 inch of fresh ginger (or a dash or 2 of the powdered ginger)
• 1/2-1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

The black pepper really lends a new level to this marinade so don’t be afraid to use it liberally.

It’s also good for a tofu marinade. Just cut and dry out your extra firm tofu as you normally would. Marinate it overnight. I baked it in the oven at 350 last night, and it was my best attempt at store-bought tofu to date.

My other idea was to deep fry it first then toss with the marinade in a pan and serve over rice. I have been trying to figure out for months how restaurants get their tofu so perfectly browned on all sides without destroying the shape of their cubes. They have to deep fry. They just have to.

A note on side dishes for this: If your grocery has those large dispensers of organic rices, grains, and dried beans, go for it!  I got my wild rice from one of these bins at the Turnip Truck (but I have also seen these dispensers at Wild Oats and Whole Foods).  It’s a cute little natural market in East Nashville.  I’ve made it a goal to visit all the farmer’s markets and local produce/grocery stores in the Nashville area.  I’ll be posting thoughts soon.

I then decided to try them as a Ramen noodle replacement. Don’t judge me–we only keep Ramen in the house for the occasional crunch in salads and the like, so I have all these left over sauce packets. I tried the noodles with the packets, and they were like Ramen noodles–except with way less carbs. And I didn’t feel weighed down like I often did in college after eating these. A little (almost) guilt-free treat! I’m sure I soaked up enough sodium, though.

I really want to try these little noodles with marinara and Morning Star Farms “meat” balls (which I have just discovered). I also discovered that there are WAY more noodles in that little water-filled bag than I originally thought. At Whole Foods, they are $1.79 per package. It’s really not that expensive because one pouch fed two people. And since I’m not into leftovers, that is just fine with me.

I was toying with the idea of ordering them online, but shipping ranges from $9.00 to $13.00 because of the refrigerated nature of the noodles. This would be worth it if I lived where they aren’t sold or I wanted to buy in bulk. I’ve tried to find them as a dry product to no avail. I’m going to look for an Asian grocery a little closer to home today.

Next on my list of noodle dishes: rice noodles. They’re not low in carbs like the shirataki noodles, but they are hella afforable. I’m thinking lemon grass and chili.

Then last week, I happened upon a blog about homemade tofu. I was intrigued, but after looking all over the net for some concrete measurements, I was coming up empty-handed. Most of them mentioned a tofu press and a soymilk maker, but those go for $100 or more. The other instructions on how to make soymilk (the base for the tofu) were lengthy and confusing. Several recipes had other links pointing to other sites and back and forth and it was all incredibly daunting. Two sites even suggested that without a soymilk maker, I would have to pour scalding hot soy beans into a huge blender being careful not to let the steam build up…or it would EXPLODE! No ma’am. I don’t have a huge blender anyhow, so I bought a little hand/immersion blender at Wal-mart for $20. Don’t judge me for shopping at the Wally World. We are on a budget.

Some recipes called for a whole pound of soybeans. After soaking my pound of soybeans (about $2 at the Whole Foods), I quickly realized that was going to yield WAY too much tofu to eat in 3 days. So without further adieu, I give you my researched method. Because if you’ve spent any time reading through the instructions out there, you’re VERY tired of the wordy crap.

Items you will need:

• cheese cloth (I found this at Whole Foods. I cut the 3 yards in half.)
• a large pot
• several medium to large bowls (I haven’t gotten this part down to save on the dishes…yet.)
• blender of some sort
• a colander/sieve/or something that strains
• optional: homemade tofu press (I got this idea from Jen over at Modern Beet. I really like her outlook on food related things.)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of soaked (overnight) soybeans
• 1.5 cups of water
• 4 cups of water in a large pot
• 2 or 3 tbsp of vinegar (other coagulants I read about include gypsum, lemon juice, or epsom salt)

Here’s the process:

1. Soak the soy beans overnight.
2. Skim out the 2 cups you need and blend with 1.5 cups water until it’s like a bean smoothie.
   

   Cover the soy beans with enough water.

3. Boil 4 cups of water in a large pot.
4. Pour the bean smoothie in the pot with the boiling water and return to a boil.
   

   Your "bean smoothie" should be about this consistency.

5. Let simmer 10 minutes. You can busy yourself with skimming off the foam from the top.
   

   Skim the foam off the top. I don't think this is necessary, but I did it anyway.

6. Fold one piece of the cheese cloth in half and line your wire strainer/colander/whatever.
7. Place straining device in a stainless steel mixing bowl. The soy milk you strain out is the part you need.
   

   Straining out the okara is not as hard as it sounds. The soy milk that you strain is what you want, so put a bowl underneath the straining device.

8. Pour the hot mixture in the wire strainer. You might need to wear some kitchen gloves to lightly squeeze the rest of the milk from the soy bean pulp so you don’t burn your hands. This part is not as hard as it sounds. <This okara can be toasted and thrown in bread recipes and whatnot. Expect a zucchini apple okara bread recipe some time this week!>
9. Put the okara to the side, and place the stainless steel bowl of soy milk back on the eye (that is no longer on, but still holding heat). <Update: I didn’t do this the second time around because the soy milk was still pretty darn hot>
10. Add the 2 tbsp. of vinegar or lemon juice. It should coagulate into “curds and whey” pretty quick-like. I ended up using 3 tbsp of vinegar because I mis-measured and it was still fine.
    

    The curdling will look something like this, depending on what coagulant you use.

11. Stir the mixture once. Leave it alone for 10-15 minutes.
12. Pour mixture into homemade tofu press OR wire strainer lined with other half of cheese cloth.
    

    Fold your cheese cloth into whatever you are going to press the water out of the tofu.

13. This can go either way–the point here is to press the water or “whey” out of the tofu. If you use the homemade tofu press, put it in a pan to collect the liquid as it drains out. If you use the wire strainer method, put a circular plate that fits inside it. Put your weights on top of that. Next time, I think I will try this as I won’t have to mess up another dish. I can just pour the curds and whey into the cheesecloth in the strainer, then put the empty bowl back underneath.
    

    Press the water out of the tofu. I used canned tomatoes.

A word about whey: In all the research that I did, I read that this leftover drained tofu “water” is really good for plants, and some folks even wash their hair in it. Not sure how I feel about that, but if it was summer time, I would definitely try this on my plants. I suppose the vinegar/lemon/epsom salt part of it binds to the tofu solid part, so I guess it wouldn’t hurt anything. If anyone has any enlightenment on this subject, please let me know. Very new at this stuff.

A word on measurements: Something I had trouble understanding was the measurement of soybeans. Folks listed them in grams and ounces. The dried ones you start out with are going to almost double in size, so my advice is to buy the whole pound. Save half for later, and soak the other half overnight. Going from there is much easier. Whatever you have left over after the 2 cups, you can stick in the fridge to continue soaking for your next meal. Mind you, this will be enough for dinner for 2 tonight which is all I wanted. The fresher the tofu, the better it is. It really is more delightful than the store bought. I would much rather cook this soy mixture than meat, let me tell you!

A word on coagulants: I used 3 tbsp. of vinegar, so my tofu had a very slight vinegary essence. In hindsight, I could have used less. Other coagulants are lemon juice or epsom salt/water mixture. Epsom salt is what tofu makers call magnesium sulfate. I found it in the pharmacy section of Wal-mart. I think I remember my granny using this for something…?

I will be trying the lemon juice and the epsom salt this week as well. The process went pretty quickly, so vinegar was all I could get my hands on at that moment. I could not find gypsum anywhere.

For Dinner Tonight: Since it had a slight vinegar essence, I poured some balsamic vinegar, salt, and olive oil on it with fresh basil strips. It was REALLY good. I will be serving this with pasta and a white wine basil cream sauce. Look for the recipe soon!