Soy Milk & Soy Bread

I've never been a big fan of soy milk. In fact I never tried it until last year. And when I tried it I thought, 'I was right. This is horrible and sweet and fake.' Then I read the ingredients. Horrible. I hate rubbish ingredients. Then, another time after that time, I saw some soy beans in an Indian shop. I decided to buy them. I realised, yes, I am going to make my own soy milk. And make it not-so-sweet or full of rubbish. Turns out, it's really easy.

Wash the soy beans and soak them overnight. The next day, give them a rinse and a drain. There is no need to cook them, we're going straight into the blender (yes, you need a blender for this one - apologies to the blender-deprived). So, what you do is blend up the soy beans with water - start with a 3:1 ratio of water:soy beans. Then strain off the liquid (with a sieve or some kind of filter paper if you're really posh - or a tea towel, that might work) into a pot. It should look white, like soy milk. Keep the solid soy bean mush left in the sieve/ paper/ tea towel/ whatever,  and pop it back in the blender for a second go. This time use maybe a 2:1 ratio. Repeat the straining, and go once again with a smaller bit of water, like 1:1. That's what I found to be a nice consistency. If you like it with a strong soy taste, use less water, or just use the first filtration.

Add some syrup (or sugar) to the pot of strained soy milk, depending on your preference. I find just a small bit of sweetener sets it off, but not too much. You can add salt if you like, but I don't like salt. Bring the mixture to the boil to pasteurise it (or something) and that's it! Give it a last strain if you like, when pouring it into a container, and keep it in the fridge. Delicious and refreshing. Now I can have cereal again!

But ah, what of that left-over soy mush? Well, that's what I was thinking. So I thought, what can I do with it? And I heard bread. Bread? Yes, bread. Put the soy mush in a bowl, add plenty brown flour (till you get a nice dough consistency), a dash or two of cider vinegar, yeast (follow the instruction on the packet), and a few glugs of oil. Also, I find adding some nutritional yeast flakes and bouillon to be quite nice. Or salt, if you like. Coat a baking dish with oil and then place the dough into it. Cover it (perhaps with a plate? A tea towel maybe?) and let it rise in a warm place for about an hour, or as long as you can wait. I find the latter normally takes precedent. Then, place it into a pre-heated oven, at some kind of hot temperature. Cook it till it's done (stick a skewer in and see if it comes out clear) and then you're done.

And that's it. Some delicious, protein-rich soy bread to have with your soy milk! Nothing goes to waste. Sure isn't that better than rubbish soy milk in silvery box packets? The milk holds for about 3 - 5 days in the fridge, from my experience. And the bread, as long as you can hold off eating it.

- Dara