Soya milk or soy milk is made by grinding soaked soybeans and pressing the soy milk out of the beans. Soy milk is an excellent source of high quality proteins, dietary fiber, isoflavones and B-vitamins. It also contains anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties, and components that aid in the prevention of osteoporosis, heart diseases, and diabetes.
Freshly made soy milk at home provides authentic rich flavor and contains no chemical preservatives that could pose a threat to your health.
Making your own soy milk at home is easy. Follow the soy milk recipe below:
Ingredients:
1 cup dry soybeans
water
Procedure:
Clean the soya beans and soak them in water for 10 – 16 hours. Although not necessary, you can remove the hulls by kneading the soya beans and flushing the loose hulls with water. Removing the hulls makes the extraction process more efficient. An alternative is to crack the soya beans before soaking. The hulls come loose easily and can be washed away. When you use cracked soya beans you need less soaking time: 6 – 8 hours.
According to Dr. Ben Kim, after soaking for six hours, drain water and transfer beans along with enough fresh water to cook beans for 15 minutes to a large pot. Use the largest pot you have, as boiling soybeans produces quite a lot of bubbles. Be precise with the 15 minute mark – this is 15 minutes of actual boiling time, no more or less, as the goal is to cook the beans, but to minimize sapping of nutritional content. Keep the pot covered while your beans are boiling, and only remove lid briefly to blow away bubbles as needed. Taste test a soybean – it should taste cooked, but still have a nice crunch. Heating the soya beans will destroy enzymes which are responsible for the development of beany flavour.
Once finished boiling, use a strainer to transfer cooked soybeans to a bowl in the sink. Cover beans with fresh water and gently “roll” them between your hands to remove their translucent skins.
Grind the soaked soya beans and four cups of fresh water in a blender. Sieve the mixture trough a cheese cloth and recover the soy milk. The insoluble material which remains on the sieve is called okara, and can be used as an ingredient for bread making or as cattle feed.
You can now drink the soy milk as is but taste can be improved by adding vanilla or chocolate flavor, fruits or just some salt. Serve it hot or cold.
Freshly made soy milk can be keep in the fridge and must consume within 2 to 3 days.
Sources:
Soy Milk
How to make soy milk
Soybean seminar
Dr. Ben Kim – How to make soy milk
