Cotton Cloth Bag

Cotton cloth bag is essentially required for making soymilk.   The bag is best made of white cotton cloth, so that no pigments and other chemical shall contain the soymilk.

I had my cotton bag sew by a local tailor.  It is 20cm width by 40cm length, sew on 3 sides, and a 20cm-side left open. 

20cm x 40cm is just nice for squeezing soy puree, not too bulky to twist, and not too short to keep the puree from leaking out.

Whoever attempt to make their own homemade soymilk, must own at least a cotton cloth bag.   A fully mechanized soy-maker would not be able to produce soymilk as smooth as cloth-filtered version.    The various high-tech soy-makers in the market may come with made-in-filter, and built-in-heater to produce hand-clean, hassle=free and ready-to-drink soymilk, but the money paid is not worth for the bland and powdery-taste soymilk.    

Ongrizinal Soymilk

Ingredients :

1. soybeans, 300g

2. water, a lot ( for soaking & grinding )

3. sugar, according to your taste

Equipment :

1. a huge pot ( for boiling )

2. a blender

3. a cotton cloth bag

4. a filter, just in case

Method :

1. first, wash the soybean, of course.

2. then, I would soak the soybean overnight.  

- the hydrated soybeans will expand, so better soak it in a bigger container with more water. 

- longer soaking time would really help in blending and better milking.  

- to avoid the soybean turn bad in room temperature, I put them in refrigerator.  

3. next, scope in some soybeans into a conventional blender, add some water to it.  Blend thoroughly. 

4. pour the slurry mixture into a cotton cloth bag.  squeeze the soymilk by twisting the cloth.

- remember to hold the opening tight, to avoid the soybean cake leak out.  try everything possible to avoid soybean cake contamination.  

- if the soybean cake does get into the filtered soymilk, try another round of filtering with a fine filter.

- a 300g of soybean should be just enough for 3 times of blending and squeezing.

- I still prefer the conventional soymilk filtration via muslin cloth bag.   many a time, expensive, high-tech soymilk-makers fail to filter the soybean cake thoroughly, resulting in a powdery taste.

5. the final step is boiling.

- a 300g of soybean can milk some 3 liter of soymilk.

- pour the soymilk into a large pot, bring to boil.

- as the soymilk boils, it accumulates bubbles on the surface.  the bubble will eventually overspill.  so, standby at the pot.

-  at a point, the bubble will burst abruptly.  turn the flame down immediately, otherwise the bubble will surely overflow.  If so, it will be quite a mess to clean up.

-  allow the soymilk to boil for another 10 minutes.  this is supposed to destroy the trypsin inhibitor , protease inhibitors and LOX in the soymilk.

- any unfiltered soybean cake will settle at the bottom of the pot.  It will hardened and difficult to remove.  if boil for a bit longer more, it might get charred and spoil the taste of the soymilk.

6. the actual final step is actually adding sugar to the soymilk.

- sweetening with sugar not only adds in the sweet taste, it also enhanced the aroma of the soymilk.

- the soymilk sold in the market is either too sweet or too bland.  thus I prefer homemade.

Black and White 黑白

黑 Black : Grass jelly凉粉, also know as 仙草, cincau, is a jelly-like dessert made from leaves of Mesona chinensis, of family Lamiaceae. The aged and slightly oxidized stalks and leaves of Mesona chinensis is boiled with potassium carbonate for several hours with a little starch, filtered and then cooling the liquid to a jelly-like consistency. It has slight bitter taste, with a light iodine lavender flavor, with a translucent black appearance. It is mixed in ice kacang and cendol, or consumed with sweetened water as a drink during hot weather.

白 White : Soy Milk 豆浆 is a beverage made from soybeans, Glycine max. It is produced by grinding soybeans with water, the purée is filter to extract the milky solution, then bring it to boil, add sugar for sweetening. It is very much apealing served chilled or hot.

Black and White 黑白 : when black and white mixed, it is one of the most delightful beverage !