Step 1

Soak the beans in water until they fully hydrate. This will take about 12 hours in the fridge. Make sure there is enough room for the beans to expand to triple their size. Add water if the water level drops below the top of the beans.

Step 2

Drain the beans and blend the beans with 5 cups of water until the beans well pureed. In a large capacity high speed blender, this should take about one minute. In a conventional blender, you may have to separate into two batches and blend on the highest setting for one to one and a half minutes each time. Since blenders vary, keep a close eye. You want to process enough to get the maximum amount of milk from the beans, but not so much that it becomes very difficult to strain the milk out.

Step 3

Strain the liquid into a large pot using a nut milk bag, jelly bag or several layers of cheesecloth over a colander or sieve. The liquid will be your soy milk. Squeeze the pulp until very dry. The pulp, known as soy lees or okara, can be composted or used in other recipes such as my Okara Sea Burgers.

Step 4

While stirring regularly, heat the milk on high heat until it comes to a boil. The milk tends to form a skin at the bottom of the pot so stirring is necessary to keep this from building up. During this process, a skin may form at the top; this is normal and known as yuba. Unless you want to use the yuba for something, stir it back into the milk to dissolve.

Step 5

Once the milk is boiling, turn down the heat to a simmer right away. Let the soy milk cook for 10 minutes and your soy milk is done. Remove it from heat and let it cool. You should have 5 cups of soy milk.

Step 6

This method of making silken tofu uses cold, cool, room temperature or just slightly warm soy milk. You may use an ice bath to speed things up.

Step 7

Strain your cooled soy milk to get rid of any leftover pulp or pieces of yuba.

Step 8

Ready your steaming apparatus; get the water boiling, then turn to medium high for a steady hot steam. If you don't have a proper steamer, there are options. For example, you can use a heat-proof bowl set on a rack in a big pot of water with a lid.