How to make homemade Tofu

Homemade tofu tastes worlds better than store-bought. And when you take that first bite of something you created from nothing but beans and water, you’ll understand why I keep making it again and again.

For about two hours from start to finish, you’ll be rewarded with a smooth, creamy block of tofu that elevates any dish. It’s so good you may even find yourself eating it plain, without seasoning.

I still remember the first batch I made at the beginning of this year. The choice of coagulant shapes the final texture. I started with apple cider and rice vinegar, even a mixture with lemon juice. It worked… technically. But the taste and texture? It felt like a lot of effort for something that didn’t make my heart light up. Vinegar creates a more crumbly, slightly acidic tofu. Not what I was looking for.

Then came Nigari, the mineral-rich magnesium chloride used traditionally in Japan. I was blown away. The texture is smooth and creamy. But it wasn’t instant perfection. I had to find the right dosage, the right amount of water, and perhaps the biggest learning, the right way to strain it.

A regular strainer is simply not enough. If you want truly smooth soy milk, you need a cheese cloth. It’s the quiet hero of the whole process. I even tried putting the pulp through a juicer once. Let’s just say the milk stuck to the bottom of the pot and became kind of brown, and I learned my lesson.

Later, together with a friend, I ventured into making silken tofu. We used Glucono-Delta-Lactone (GDL), which gives the most delicate, silken consistency. The kind you find in Chinese or Japanese dishes. Supposedly you can buy GDL in Asian shops, although none of the ones I visited had it. But if you do find it, I can only encourage you to give it a try.

You can enjoy this silken tofu simply with a drizzle of maple syrup or turn it into a savoury breakfast bowl by gently roasting onions, garlic, mushrooms, and greens, then splashing everything with soy sauce and rice vinegar. Comfort in its purest form.

Before you start, one essential safety note: Please don’t drink raw soy milk.
It can cause nausea, stomach pain, bloating, diarrhoea, and even vomiting. Once boiled, it becomes safe and delicious.