It’s a new year and a new you. Time to make super tasty
tofu! Why not? Freshly made tofu is like fresh cheese or bread. Exquisite.
There’s growing interest in DIY tofu and Ten Speed Press and I are responding. Today marks the release of Making Soy Milk and Tofu at Home – an eBook based on the Asian Tofu cookbook. Priced at $3.99 (about the cost of a decent cup of coffee), the eBooklet is a terrific option for people who want to master a range of DIY tofu.
If you have the Asian Tofu cookbook, you’ll recognize the contents of the eBook. It’s the extensive “Homemade Tofu Tutorial” chapter presented in both regular and enhanced (videos included) formats. I worked on that section of the book for months, perused a Ph.D. dissertation, and traveled to Asia to get a few questions answered too.
Cooks and eaters familiar with Asian food have long appreciated the deliciousness and versatility of tofu, but most people in the West see it only as a vegetarian, vegan and hippie ingredient. Thankfully, the tide is changing as people travel and explore authentic Asian flavors. As chef David Kinch of renowned Manresa Restaurant noted in his review of the book, the homemade tutorial is high value content.
Like with many foods, to truly understand tofu, you should make it yourself. You'll cook it up better in the long run. It's fascinating and magical.
Making Soy Milk and Tofu at Home
includes detailed recipes, step-by-step instructions, and tips for:
- Master Soy Milk Recipe: Learn to manipulate soybeans for 3 delicious kinds (it’s a zillion times better than boxed soy milk)
- Silken Tofu: Amazingly rich and tender when made at home
- Tofu Pudding: A favorite Chinese and Southeast street food and dim sum snack, go savory or sweet
- Block Tofu: When made at home, this is definitely not your average white block in a tub
- Seasoned Pressed Tofu: The brown slabs of flavored tofu sold at health food stores and Chinese markets? They’re a cinch to make and you control the flavor and quality.
- Spicy Lemongrass Pressed Tofu: Check out this variation of the basic seasoned pressed tofu for ideas on crafting your own flavors.
- Tea-Smoked Pressed Tofu: Yes, give that seasoned pressed tofu a smoky edge.
- White Fermented Tofu: Grow mold to develop umami in tofu? Set the culinary scientist in you free.
- Fresh Tofu Skin: This is yuba, a.k.a. vegan sashimi, ethereal when freshly made and hard to come by unless you make it yourself.
- Soy-Simmered Fried Tofu: For tofu sushi pockets (inari zushi), udon noodle soup, and more. Infinitely better when made at home than purchased pre-seasoned at an Asian market, or (yikes) in a can.
Who this eBook is for: If you own the Asian Tofu ebook (regular or enhanced editions), this eBook would be repetitious. However, if you have the printed version of the book and have a device that can handle video and audio (e.g, iPad or Nook Color reader), consider the enhanced version of this eBooklet. It contains how-to videos on making soymilk, coagulating it with confidence for making tofu, and how to make fresh tofu skin. Some people learn better by watching and if you can't take a class with me, the eBook may be a good alternative.
For folks who want to dive into the world of DIY tofu, whether that’s going from soybeans to curds or manipulating purchased tofu to create nifty kinds of tofu, the eBook provides hyperfocused, solid guidance. It’s infinitely fun to tinker with soybeans.
When you go to buy the Making Soy Milk and Tofu at Home eBook, there are 2 versions of it: regular and enhanced (with video). Remember when I discussed standard vs. fixed layout for the Asian Tofu eBooks? Making Soy Milk and Tofu at Home is in standard layout only, which means you can change fonts. When we rolled out the Asian Tofu eBooks last year, there was a lot of confusion about the different versions. Less can be more.
Whether you buy the regular or enhanced edition, the price is the same -- $3.99. Which one you buy depends on your device or the Apps that you run. Confusing? Yes. But it’s also out of our control. The eReaders and tablets run on different platforms.
That said, look for the two different covers. If it’s bordered, you’re buying the enhanced edition. If there is no yellow border, it’s the regular ebook.
With regard to enhanced eBook device compatibility, vendors have gotten smarter. Check the enhanced eBook page for drop-down windows to see if your device or app will take the enhanced version of Making Soy Milk and Tofu at Home.
Where to buy the eBook? Currently, options include:
- Amazon: regular | enhanced
- Barnes and Noble: regular | enhanced for certain Nook devices and Apps
- BooksOnBoard
- eBooks.com
- Google Play
- iBookstore: regular | enhanced for iPhone, iPod, iPad only
- Reader Store for Sony
More vendors, such as Kobo.com, may get the book in the future. As of today, it wasn’t showing up. But you have many choices above.
Hard to believe that a year ago, I was getting ready for the Asian Tofu book release. A year later, this! Very cool. Thanks for the support. Feel free to share your thoughts on this eBooklet or post questions on digital publishing.
In a day or so, I’ll report on another Asian Tofu development.
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