The Lengthy story brief: You requested if mung beans will tofu. Properly. I attempted and failed. A number of commenters insisted it can work. So I attempted once more. And once more. And once more. I nonetheless don’t advocate. Why? What went improper? Watch or learn on…
Watch Half 1: Will Mung Beans Tofu?
Watch Half 2: Is Mung Bean Tofu a Rip-off?
Soooo…Will Mung Beans Tofu?
You requested if mung beans will tofu and I gave it a strive (truly many tries) for “Will It Tofu”; the YouTube sequence the place I take advantage of the normal methodology for making excessive protein, low carb soy tofu and apply it to non-traditional elements. The objective is to search out out which beans, peas, seeds and nuts will be remodeled right into a soy tofu different that’s comparable by texture, diet, and flexibility in cooking. Simply have a look at the completed mung bean “tofu” beneath. Doesn’t that look prefer it matches the invoice?
Appears will be deceiving.
The Technique
In “Will It Tofu”, I attempt to preserve the strategy as near the unique as potential.
- soak dry ingredient in a single day within the fridge to rehydrate
- drain, then mix the rehydrated ingredient with contemporary water
- pressure to separate the fibrous pulp from the milk
- prepare dinner the milk (simmer no less than 10 minutes for peas and beans)
- add a coagulant
- press the curds and refrigerate in a single day
Word: there are recipes on the market for “tofu” produced from complete legumes which might be blended after which cooked till set. This methodology is much like making polenta and produces a “tofu” that’s fairly scrumptious. Try my Burmese Tofu recipe for extra on that. Nonetheless, doesn’t have the identical qualities that make soy tofu so helpful and versatile. To be clear, I’m aiming for tofu that’s
- bouncy,
- excessive protein,
- low in carbohydrates,
- in a position to be cooked like soy tofu and never collapse (i.e. will be boiled, braised, marinated, grilled, and so on.)
Try my submit on profitable Soy-Free Tofu to see profitable outcomes from chickpeas, inexperienced peas, pumpkin seeds and extra.
The Mung Beans (and the arrogance!)
Initially, I meant to strive complete inexperienced mung beans for the video. Nonetheless, it was surprisingly troublesome to search out mung beans on the grocery shops close to me. Lastly, I discovered a big bag of break up mung beans and pounced on it! I really believed that mung beans would flip into excessive protein, low carbohydrate, bouncy tofu with no issues.
The Variations
In whole, I attempted making mung bean tofu 4 alternative ways whereas sticking to the unique methodology as a lot as potential.
- Scorching Soak and coagulated with gypsum (calcium sulphate),
- Chilly Soak and coagulated with gypsum,
- Chilly Soak and coagulated with lemon juice, and
- Chilly Soak and coagulated with white vinegar.
Variation 1 – Scorching Soak with Gypsum
There are two methods to rehydrate dried beans; sizzling or chilly soak. The chilly soak, taking 8 hours or extra, is extra conventional. Plus, I believe it hydrates the beans extra evenly. However with break up mung beans being so small, I believed a sizzling soak in about one hour would suffice.
Beforehand, I did the recent soak methodology with pigeon peas and it labored! The Pigeon Pea Tofu got here out bouncy and agency. Plus, pigeon pea tofu was in a position to face up to boiling with out breaking up (as you possibly can see within the photograph beneath).
So this time, having solely been capable of finding break up mung beans, I utilized the identical sizzling soaking methodology to rehydrate them: one hour soak in simply boiled water.
Afterwards, the 454 grams (1lb) of break up mung beans had soaked up 336 grams of water.
Then like ordinary, I blended the drained beans with about double their quantity of water in my Vitamix. As a result of these have been such small little break up mung beans, I blended the primary half for simply 20 seconds on excessive.
The milk was simple to pressure; too simple. The pulp had seen specks of yellow which tells me I might’ve blended for longer. So for the second half, I elevated the mix time to 30 seconds on excessive.
The contemporary mung bean milk had a visual layer of starch on the backside instantly.
However as ordinary on this sequence, I let the milk relaxation for about one hour to let much more starch sink to the underside. All through this sequence, I’ve examined shorter and longer settling durations and 40 – 60 minutes appears to be the candy spot. Any longer (even in a single day) doesn’t appear to assist.
Then I gently ladled the milk to a pot and reserved the starch layer for different makes use of. Leftover starch can be utilized to thicken soups and sauces similar to cornstarch. However historically, mung bean starch has been utilized to make noodles! See this submit for the time I attempted making noodles with chickpea starch.
Beans have to be cooked and Mung Bean Milk isn’t any exception. So I simmered the milk for 10 minutes. Throughout this time, a pores and skin shaped on prime which I took as a superb signal! Soymilk additionally simply varieties a pores and skin throughout simmering and it’s used to make completely different recipes.
Afterwards, I raised the temperature to 180°F earlier than including the coagulant: 1 1/2 teaspoons of food-grade gypsum (calcium sulphate) in 1/2 cup of room temperature water. After stirring the coagulant in, the temperature was simply above the 165°F that we goal for when coagulating soy tofu.
Then I coated the pot and let it relaxation for quarter-hour on the nice and cozy range prime.
The ensuing curds have been mushy and jiggly. The whey was clear yellow with no trace of milkiness. Nice indicators!
Nonetheless, as I crammed the tofu press, I observed it was filling up larger than I’d anticipate. Nonetheless, I used to be assured that I’d have mung bean tofu the following day!
After chilling in a single day within the fridge, the mung bean curds had compressed as anticipated.
Upon unwrapping, it was clear to me that issues had gone horribly awry.
It’s exhausting to inform simply from pictures, however you possibly can see the perimeters have crumbled. When slicing, the knife didn’t come away cleanly. As a substitute, the mung bean “tofu” clung on and left mushy mung bean paste on the sting. The blocks weren’t bouncy and agency. As a substitute it was simply flattened by the again of a spoon.
The mouthfeel was like very compressed mashed potatoes. And the style wasn’t nice both. It had the flavour of watered-down mung beans with a touch of bitterness.
I even tried to season the surface of a pair cubes and pan-fried them. However nothing might masks the style of failure.
What went improper?
These mushy outcomes resembled the time I attempted making fava bean tofu with out eradicating the starch. So to me, it appeared that an excessive amount of starch remained within the tofu.
I additionally began to suspect that possibly the recent soak was not appropriate for mung beans in any case. Maybe I simply obtained fortunate with the pigeon peas. A number of commenters who appeared to have expertise with mung bean tofu echoed this thought. They requested me to strive once more with an extended soak and a few wished to see an extended settling step.
Variation 2 – Chilly Soak and coagulated with gypsum
With the primary failure out of the best way, I attempted once more with break up mung beans from the identical bundle as earlier than. This time, I soaked 1lb of dried beans in chilly water, leaving it within the fridge to rehydrate for twenty-four hours.
The subsequent day, the break up mung beans have been good and plump. Plus, there was a visual layer of starch on prime of them. After draining, the rehydrated beans weighed 891 grams, which means they soaked up about 100g extra water than the recent soaked mung beans.
I continued on to mix the beans with double their quantity of water, in half batches, for 30 seconds within the Vitamix. Then I used my nut milk bag to separate the milk from the pulp. This time the pulp got here out fantastic and clean with out seen chunks; simply what I prefer to see!
This time, I let the milk sit for two hours to permit the starch to sink to the underside of the bowl; greater than double the standard period of time. Nonetheless, after evaluating the footage, it doesn’t appear there was a distinction.
I gently scooped out the milk to keep away from disturbing the starch. After isolating the leftover starch, it measured about 90 grams; lots lower than the 233g of starch anticipated from 1lb of those mung beans.
The mung bean milk was cooked similar to within the first variation. A style take a look at revealed that this cooked mung bean milk tasted lots like soymilk with only a slight bitter aftertaste. Then I continued by letting it come to coagulation temperature, including the gypsum, masking the pot and letting it relaxation to coagulate.
At first look, the end result appeared good! The milk had solidified and when pressed with a strainer, clear whey emerged.
Scooping into the curds revealed a mushy and delicate texture.
Nonetheless, when filling up the tofu press, I might inform issues weren’t properly. High-quality curds have been escaping from the fabric and the whey was turning into milky. Plus, the quantity was coming as much as the highest of the press as in Variation 1.
With a heavy coronary heart, I continued the method and put the curd-filled tofu press within the fridge to relax in a single day.
The subsequent day revealed what I feared. The unwrapped block of pressed mung bean curd was so mushy that once I tapped it that my finger sunk proper by. It was potato-free mashed potatoes once more. This time the flavour was good although; simply freshly cooked mung beans however lots smoother.
This tasty mung bean mash appeared suited to 1 factor I had been craving anyway: hummus! I blended it with tahini, lemon juice, garlic and salt. Scrumptious!
Nonetheless, after I happy my craving, I skilled a slight flare-up of my continual tendonitis signs. This tells me that the completed end result was too excessive in starch. Although I’m not a fan of ache, this was a helpful clue as to why the tofu didn’t prove bouncy. There was nonetheless an excessive amount of starch left within the milk, and due to this fact, within the completed mung bean tofu.
Variation 3- Chilly Soak and coagulated with lemon juice
Not too long ago, I had a failure with chickpea tofu. I used a brand new bag of chickpeas and adopted the identical course of as I normally do. However as an alternative of beautiful bouncy chickpea tofu, this batch didn’t coagulate. After I tried once more with a unique bag, it labored as ordinary. All this to say, I used to be starting to suspect my explicit bag of mung beans. Maybe it simply didn’t have the precise stuff for some purpose. Nonetheless, it was a really massive bag and I wasn’t near being completed with it. For this sequence of assessments, I made a decision to maintain going. This time, I made a decision to check a unique coagulant.
I used the very same mung bean milk-making methodology as earlier than however was much more cautious in the course of the starch separation step. Then I cooked it up and added 1.5 tablespoons of lemon juice right into a half cup of room temperature water because the coagulant.
The end result was even worse! The milk seemed to be separated into small chunks, resembling cottage cheese. The whey was not clear; it was milky indicating incomplete coagulation.
So I warmed the combination over low warmth for an additional quarter-hour to encourage extra coagulation.
Sadly, it didn’t assist. The milky whey was thick like a starch-thickened sauce. That tells me it’s nonetheless a starch subject. If that’s certainly the case, there can be nothing extra to do besides throw within the towel.
I used to be not able to throw it in although, so I added extra lemon juice and repeated the warming step. No bueno.
At this level, I used to be determined. I added vinegar an repeated the warming step once more as a final ditch effort!
In fact it didn’t assist.
Variation 4 – Chilly Soak and coagulated with white vinegar
With the final pound of mung beans, I repeated the milking process. This time I used to be much less cautious concerning the starch separation step, pouring from the bowl immediately into the cooking pot as an alternative of fastidiously scooping. After cooking the milk and ensuring it reached 180°F, I poured in an answer of 1/2 cup of water and 1 1/2 tablespoons of white vinegar.
We got here full circle. The end result was very very similar to Variation 1. The curds appeared promising and the whey was clear. After urgent, the block appeared stable. Nevertheless it didn’t slice cleanly. And when gently squeezed, it crumbled.
At this level, I’m half satisfied that mung bean tofu is a rip-off.
However with so many anecdotes of mung bean tofu in my remark part, I nonetheless won’t quit! Subsequent, I’ve lastly sourced complete inexperienced mung beans. And if that’s not sufficient, I’ve some powdered amylas enzyme which is used to show starch into sugar!
Please look out for the the following installment of “Will Mung Beans Tofu”!
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