Soy Milk From Scratch

When I came to Australia some 40 odd years ago. My family ended up in a little rural Victorian town. It was a little farming community with a rich history in dairy.  A very different setting to the modern-day Melbourne in which I live today. I have very fond memories of my childhood there. I remember riding up the hill with my brothers on our chopper style bmx bikes to the old caravan park where the old abandoned swimming pool was. It had been overgrown by nature and had become more like a creek. We would go there to catch yabbies. We would go rabbit hunting with our pet ferrets. Collect fresh eggs from the chickens and pick seasonal fruits all the time. It was a simple and joyful childhood. The summers use to last forever and we never ran out of things to do.

Unlike today’s world of 24/7 hour super market, we only had 1 local super market. I think it was called SSW or Tucker bag, I can’t really recall now, it was owned and operated by a local and so was the local hardware store. When my dad went for his driver’s licence the local police officer just followed him as he drove around a few streets and that was test. There was only one car dealership and one butcher shop. Back in those days, the butcher did not sell things like ham hocks, chicken thighs, lamb shanks or even pork belly. Lamb shanks where taken for dog food. Now those are the most expensive cuts of meat. Go figure hey!

So as you can imagine, trying to find Asian staples and food was pretty much a zero chance. My parents grew just about all the Asian greens we ate, Mum use to make almost everything from scratch. This was very time and labor intensive but it was a necessity for my family.  These days living in Melbourne mum no longer needs to cook from scratch but I learnt a valuable lesson from those years seeing where my food came from. I’ve always made it a point to learn to cook whatever I eat from scratch. I don’t do this out of necessity but for the reason of knowing where my food comes from and just in case life takes me to a place where certain foods are not readily available to me. So today I thought I would show you how to make soy milk from scratch.

First off we are going to need some soybeans. We are using dried soybeans which are readily available in most super markets or health stores these day. If you have a local Asian grocer near you, they will have it for sure or you can order them on line. They are super cheap and last for just about ever and we can make so many things with them. I recommend if you can get them to use organic beans.

I’m using 2 cups of soybean to which I’m soaking them in 1 litre of cold water. Leave the beans to soak for about 8 hours.

After 8 hours the soybeans should have increased to about 3 times their original size

Using your fingers gently massage the beans to loosen off the skins from the beans. Skim off the skins from the top of the water and drain and pick out and left over skins. You will need to repeat this step a few times to remove all the skins.

 

Now that all the skins are removed give the soy beans a good rinse and drain.

Step 4. Time To Turn Beans To Milk

 

Add one cup of your cleaned soy beans and 600mls of clean fresh water to a blender. Blend until smooth.

 Step 5. Time To Cook The Milk

Pour the content of the blender into a pot. Over a medium high heat bring the pot to a boil, don’t walk away from it as it will have a tendency to boil over. If it does start to boil over remove it from the heat and keep stirring. Once the milk has come to a boil turn the heat down to low and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Stirring occasionally. ​

 

Skim off any film that form on the top of milk. This film that forms on the top is called Yuba and is widely eaten in many Japanese and Chinese dishes. I like to keep it and add it to my noodle soups.  You can dry it out and store it away. There is so much you can do with it.
Now turn off the heat and allow the milk cool down enough to handle.

Step 6. Strain The Milk

Cover a strainer with some cheese cloth and pour the cooled milk and all the pulp from the pot over into a large bowl. Ring out all the liquid you can as this is your finished milk.

 

The leftover pulp in the cheese cloth is call Okara. Don’t throw this away. It is a super food. Full of protein, fiber and other minerals. It can be used in many recipes. It actually taste pretty bland but I like using it to add texture and all the above health benefits. It does absorb flavors really well, so don’t tell Shorty Kun but I do sneak this stuff into some of his meals.

Step 7. Leave The Milk to Cool 

 

Now you have made your fresh soy milk allow it to cool down completely.

Step 8. Pour into a bottle 

 

Final step now, pour your freshly cooled soy milk into a bottle or air tight container. I like to use a small strainer and a funnel to do this as to ensure we remove any last yuba remains and don’t spill the milk of course.

There you have it peoples. Fresh soy milk made from scratch.  Now this soy milk won’t taste like a store bought soy milk as it taste as real soy milk taste, free from any artificial flavors, colours and sweeteners.
If you wish to sweeten it you can but I like it just the way it is.