Soy Milk

Ingredients

Beans

• 250 gdried soya beans
• water for soaking
• 1.8 litresfresh water for blending

Sweet version

• sugar or rock sugar, to taste

Savoury version, xian doujiang

• 2 tbsplight soy sauce
• 1 tbspChinkiang black vinegar
• 1 tbspdried shrimp
• 1 tbspzha cai, pickled mustard stem, chopped
• 1spring onion, sliced
• chilli oil
• a broken you tiao, fried dough stick

To serve

• hot, with you tiao for dipping

Directions

1. Soak the dried beans overnight in plenty of cold water, since they double in size. They are ready when they split easily between your fingers and the halves are flat rather than domed. Rub them between your hands and rinse them, which loosens some of the skins. Removing the skins gives a smoother, less beany milk and it is worth doing if you have the patience.
2. Blend the drained beans with fresh water in batches, using roughly seven parts water to one part dry beans by weight. Blend for a full two minutes per batch, longer than feels necessary. Use cold or lukewarm water rather than hot, which begins to cook the proteins in the blender.
3. Strain the mixture through muslin or a nut milk bag, squeezing hard. Squeeze until the pulp is genuinely dry, since a great deal of milk remains otherwise. Strain it twice if you want a very smooth milk. Now the boiling, which needs watching. Pour the raw milk into a large heavy pan and bring it to a boil over a medium heat.
4. Stir constantly and scrape the base, since soy milk catches and scorches very readily. It will climb the pan and boil over within seconds if you look away. Use a pan at least twice the volume of the milk, and stay with it.
5. Skim the foam off or stir it down, and make sure the liquid beneath is genuinely boiling before you start timing. Now boil it gently for seven to ten minutes, stirring throughout.
6. Lift it off with chopsticks if you want it, or stir it back in. The sweet version is simply sweetened with sugar or rock sugar and drunk hot. Put soy sauce, black vinegar, dried shrimp, pickled mustard stem and spring onion in the bottom of a bowl.
7. Pour the very hot soy milk over the top and do not stir it. The vinegar curdles the soy milk into soft delicate curds within seconds, which is exactly the intention. Add chilli oil and a torn you tiao on top. Serve either version immediately, since fresh soy milk separates and sours within a day. It keeps two days refrigerated, and it should be shaken before drinking.

Technique

• Soy milk must be boiled for at least seven minutes for safety.
• It foams up dramatically and boils over in seconds if unwatched.
• The savoury version is curdled deliberately by vinegar in the bowl.

Substitutions

• There is no substitute for boiling; this step is not optional.
• Rock sugar in place of granulated, which is cleaner.

Variations

• Xian doujiang, the savoury curdled version.
• Sweetened with brown sugar.
• Made into douhua by adding a coagulant.

Frequently asked questions

What is Soy Milk?

Soy Milk is a drink from China: fresh warm soybean milk, sweet or savory, classic breakfast partner to youtiao.

How long does Soy Milk take to make?

Soy Milk takes 10 min plus overnight soaking of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 1.5 litres. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Soy Milk?

Yes, within limits. There is no substitute for boiling; this step is not optional. Rock sugar in place of granulated, which is cleaner.

What is the most important thing to get right in Soy Milk?

Soak the dried beans overnight in plenty of cold water, since they double in size. They are ready when they split easily between your fingers and the halves are flat rather than domed. Rub them between your hands and rinse them, which loosens some of the skins. Removing the skins gives a smoother, less beany milk and it is worth doing if you have the patience.