There was a study done which determined that American born Chinese drink far less (10%) soy milk than Chinese born in China. To my knowledge this is for a couple of reasons. One, China is one very large country. In fact, it is the largest. There isn't enough milk (from cows) to feed the entire population but there is a lot of soy which can be "milked" into soy milk. Two, not only do soy bean have tons of nutrient as well as being high in fiber, high in protein, lactose free, and cholesterol free but they are a easy to grow and will be ready to harvest within 45 - 60 days! And lastly, you don't need a cow to make soy milk - all you need are soy beans. You can make how much you want, when you want, and how sweet you want it. What's fascinating from all this is that millions of asians, raised in china or not, are lactose intolerant because of the lack of diary they and their ancestors had as a child. Isn't that whole circle of information interesting?
We are literally a byproduct of our heritage and soy milk is the proof.
Growing up in America, meant that I had access to good fresh sweet cows milk so soy milk was not readily accessible in my fridge. However, a couple months ago I saw this amazing video about a store called Fong On in NYC and was inspired to give their house made soy milk a try. This soy milk was hands down the best soy milk I have ever had in my entire life and since then I've been back 3x just for their sweetened soy milk. I don't think I truly knew what soy milk tasted like until that moment.
I was inspired to try my hand at making soy milk at home and wanted to share the process with you. It's actually quite simple and similar to the way that you would make almond or cashew milk. Soak with water, blend, cook, and squeeze out the "milk". The extra step is to cook the soy milk because the beans are dry and eating uncooked soybeans is toxic. Cooking also allows the soy milk to deepen in flavor. After the soy milk has simmer for 15 minutes, you strain it out, sweeten it, and enjoy a nice warm beverage.
Sweet Soy Milk
Ingredients:
200 grams of organic soybeans
1000 grams of filtered water, plus 100- 200 grams more
1/4 cup of sugar, optional
1 teaspoon of salt, optional
Additional things you'll need:
Cleese cloth/nut bag Colander Large pot/bowl Fine mesh skimmer
Instructions:
The night before you plan on making soy milk, wash the beans under running water and then place into a large bowl. Cover with enough water to go 2 inches above the soy beans and let it soak overnight.
The next morning, drain out the soy beans and place into a high speed blender. Pour enough flitered water to cover the beans and blend until smooth. You can do this step in batches. Pour everything into a large pot along with the rest of the filtered water.
On medium heat, bring the soy milk to a boil. If too many bubbles start to form, you can skim them off. Once boiling, set a timer for 15 minutes. Stir constantly so nothing burns.
Pour the heated soy mixture into a large bowl that has a colander lined with 2 layers of cheese cloth in it. Let the soy milk strain out and let it cool down for 20 minutes.
If you want a thinner milk add more filtered water, 100g at a time. Then sweeten to taste and add a pinch of salt. Take a sip and enjoy.
Note: The cheesecloth holding the soy pulp will be too hot to handle. Squeeze out the rest of the milk once it completely cools down but enjoy some warm soy milk in the meantime ;)