Previous | Next

In the Japanese way of making Soy Milk, uncooked soy beans are soaked in water overnight. In the morning they are drained, then mashed with some boiling water, so that they look like gloopy mashed potatoes. More boiling water is added, and the mash is simmered for at least 10 minutes. This not only helps to break down the beans further; the cooking time destroys a protein in the bean which would otherwise make soy's much-vaunted protein unavailable to our digestive systems. An anti-foaming agent is often added to stop it from boiling over.

After the cooking, the mixture is then filtered.

In the Chinese way of making it, the liquid is filtered first, then boiled.

What comes through the strainer is Soy Milk; the moosh that stays in the strainer is called in Japanese "Okara."

The "Okara" can be used in baked goods, for livestock feed, or as compost for the garden or fields.

It's a Western practice to aim for Soy Milk that tastes like milk - though not many people will feel that we've succeeded. The Chinese version has more of a vegetable flavour.

The Chinese mostly use Soy Milk to make bean curd (tofu), though sometimes they will drink served warmed in small bowls for breakfast. In Northern China, you dip a shao bing into it; in Taiwan, pieces of a steamed sponge yellowish cake called "ma la gao."

In the West, where Soy Milk is used as a replacement for dairy milk, including drinking straight up and pouring on cereal, the most delicately flavoured soy beans are used.

Every brand of Soy Milk will taste very different from all the others. In the search for one you like, expect to dump a few down the sink.

Cooking Tips
Soy Milk will not curdle when boiled, but a skin will form on the surface.

Also called:

See Also:

Okara

Other entries for:

Soybeans
Black Soybeans, Edamame, Soy Bran, Soy Milk, Tempe, Textured Vegetable Protein, Tofu

Other entries for:

Beans
Adzuki Beans, Anasazi Beans, Apache Beans, Appaloosa Beans, Aramis Beans, Aunt Emma's Beans, Baccicia Beans, Baked Beans, Bayo Beans (Louisiana), Black Beans, Black Nightfall Beans, Bleu du Lac St-Jean Beans, Broad Beans, Brown Rice Beans, Bush Beans, Canary Beans, Chana Dal, Chickashaw Beans, Chickpeas, Chinese Long Bean, Cow-Itch Beans, Cowpeas, Cranberry Beans, Crochu de Savoie Beans, Dainagon Beans, Dolico Veneto Beans, Dragon Tongue Beans, Dry Beans, European Soldier Beans, Falcon Rice Beans, Flageolet Beans, Flor de Junio Beans, Flor de Mayo Beans, Fortin Family Beans, Fradinho Beans, French Fillet Beans, Garboncito Beans, Garrofo Beans, Good Mother Stallard Beans, Great Northern Beans, Green Beans, Green Flageolet Beans, Green Rice Beans, Hopi Black Pinto Beans, Jackson Wonder Beans, Kahnawake Mohawk Beans, Kunde Beans, Lablab Beans, Lima Beans, Lupini Beans, Madeira Beans, Magpie Beans, Mexican Bayo Beans, Moth Beans, Mung Beans, Navy Beans, Nodak Beans, Pebble Beans, Peruano Beans, Pigeon Peas, Pink Beans, Pinto Beans, Pole Beans, Rattlesnake Beans, Red Ball Beans, Red Kidney Beans, Red Nightfall Beans, Refugee Beans, Rice Beans (Asian), Rice Beans, Rio Zappe Beans, Romano Beans, Runner Beans, Sangre de Toros Beans, Sator Beans, Seluga Beans, Shelling Beans, Tarahumara Canario Beans, Tepary Beans, Tiger's Eye Beans, Tolosana Beans, Toscanelli Beans, Trout Beans, Tweed Wonder Beans, Vallarta Beans, Wax Beans, Wild Goose Beans, Winged Beans, Witkiem Beans, Zolfino Pratomagno Beans

Other entries for:

Legumes
Lentils, Peas