| THIS DELICACY, TOFU, IS NOT COMMON TO MANY FOODIES, BUT AS I SAT IN THE NEWSROOM AND WHILE HAVING AN INTERACTION WITH ONE OF OUR INTERNS/VOLUNTEERS, AYOMIDE OLAKOJO, WHO HAILS FROM KWARA, SHE DECIDED TO SEND THIS RECIPE TO ME. YOU CAN RELISH THIS DELICACY AS WELL. TOFU IS A SOFT WHITE SUBSTANCE MADE FROM MASHED SOYA BEANS. IT IS HOWEVER INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT ‘SOY’ OR ‘SOYA’, YOU ARE REFERRING TO TOFU. IT IS USED MAINLY IN ASIAN AND VEGETARIAN COOKING. TOFU IS HOWEVER MOSTLY COMMON IN KWARA STATE WHERE THEY CALL OR DESCRIBE IT AS BESKE OR WARA. TOFU IS GOTTEN FROM SOYA BEANS AND SOYABEANS CURD. ALL THE WAY FROM CHINA, TOFU CAN BE DESCRIBED AS A VEGETABLE PROTEIN. MORE SO AS IT IS DERIVED FROM A PLANT. TOFU, ALSO KNOWN AS BEAN CURD, IS A FOOD PREPARED BY COAGULATING AND PRESSING THE RESULTING CURDS INTO SOLID WHITE BLOCKS OF VARYING SOFTNESS. TOFU CAN BE SILKEN, SOFT, FIRM, EXTRA FIRM OR SUPER FIRM. BEYOND THESE BROAD TEXTURAL CATEGORIES. THERE ARE MANY VARIETIES OF TOFU AND IT HAS A COOL FLAVOUR. THIS WHITE PLANT-BASED FOOD CAN BE USED IN SAVOURY AND SWEET DISHES. IT IS USUALLY SEASONED OR MARINATED TO SUIT THE DISH AND ITS FLAVOURS AS THE CASE MAY BE. OWING TO ITS SPONGY TEXTURE, IT ABSORBS FLAVOURS SO WELL AND NEATLY. NUTRITIONALLY, TOFU IS LOW IN CALORIES WHILE CONTAINING A RELATIVELY LARGE AMOUNT OF PROTEIN. IT IS HIGH IN IRON AND CAN HAVE A HIGH CALCIUM OR MAGNESIUM CONTENT DEPENDING ON THE COAGULANTS (LIKE CALCIUM CHLORIDE, CALCIUM SULPHATE MAGNESIUM SULPHATE USED IN MANUFACTURING. REPORTS SAY TOFU FIRST ORIGINATED IN CHINA AND HAS BEEN CONSUMED WITHIN CHINA FOR OVER 2,000 YEARS DATING BACK TO THE HAN DYNASTY. IT IS ALSO A TRADITIONAL COMPONENT OF THE CUISINES OF EAST AND SOUTHEAST ASIA INCLUDING IN INDONESIA, JAPAN, KOREA, SINGAPORE, THAILAND AND VIETNAM. LOVELY ENOUGH, TOFU IS NOW A GLOBAL PROTEIN ENRICHED FOOD. NIGERIA IS NOT LEFT OUT, AS KWARA AND KOGI STATES ARE KNOWN FOR THIS GREAT FOOD. WELL, THE ENTIRE NORTHERN NIGERIA IS FAMILIAR WITH THE BEAUTY OF TOFU, EVEN AS MANY OTHER STATES ARE RELISHING THE FOOD AS WELL. LIKE MOST PLANT FOODS, TOFU HAS SOME IMPORTANT FOOD ELEMENT WHICH CONTAINS SEVERAL ANTINUTRIENTS, LIKE TRYPSIN INHIBITORS. THESE COMPOUNDS BLOCK TRYPSIN, AN ENZYME NEEDED TO PROPERLY DIGEST PROTEIN. ANOTHER IS PHYTATES, WHICH CAN REDUCE THE ABSORPTION OF MINERALS, SUCH AS CALCIUM, ZINC, AND IRON.13 DEC 2018 TOFU CONTAINS ALSO SEVERAL ANTI-INFLAMMATORY, ANTIOXIDANT PHYTO-CHEMICALS MAKING IT A GREAT ADDITION TO AN ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DIET. TOFU IS ALSO A GOOD SOURCE OF ‘COMPLETE’ PROTEIN – MEANING THAT IT HAS A WELL BALANCED AMINO ACID PROFILE – IN ADDITION TO FIBER, POTASSIUM, MAGNESIUM, IRON, COPPER AND MANGANESE. MEANWHILE, DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS CONTAINING SOY EXTRACTS ARE POSSIBLY SAFE WHEN USED FOR UP TO 6 MONTHS. SOY CAN CAUSE SOME MILD STOMACH AND INTESTINAL SIDE EFFECTS SUCH AS CONSTIPATION, BLOATING, AND NAUSEA. IT CAN ALSO CAUSE ALLERGIC REACTIONS INVOLVING RASH, ITCHING, AND BREATHING PROBLEMS IN SOME PEOPLE. SINCE IT IS PROCESSED FROM SOYABEANS, TOFU HAS MORE NUTRITIONAL AND PROTEINOUS VALUE THAN MOST PROTEIN ENRICHED FOOD. TOFU – RECIPE FOR 2 SERVINGS * SOAK THE SOYA BEANS OVERNIGHT FOR LIKE 6 HOURS TO 10 HOURS. * IF THE SOYA BEANS CAN BREAK EASILY WHILE YOU CRUSH WITH YOUR HANDS, THEN, GO AHEAD AND WASH UNTIL VERY CLEAN. * POUR INTO A CLEAN BOWL, ADD A LITTLE WATER AND TRANSFER TO THE BLENDER LITTLE BY LITTLE AND BLEND UNTIL SMOOTH. * TRANSFER TO THE POT. AND STIR OVER LOW HEAT. * STIR FOR A WHILE AND SIEVE INTO A BOWL IN ORDER FOR YOU TO EXTRACT THE MILK. * SIEVE AS IF YOU MAKING PAP. *ONCE THE MILK IS EXTRACTED DISCARD THE CHAFF OF THE SOYA BEANS. * AFTER THIS, YOU CAN POUR THE MILK INTO A BIG COOKING POT AND PLACE IT ON FIRE. * SQUEEZE SOME LIME OR LEMON OVER THE COOKING MILK. * CONTINUE TO GRADUALLY AND DELIBERATELY SPRINKLE SOME LIME OR LEMON ON THE COOKING MILK UNTIL THE PARTICLES SEPARATE THEMSELVES. * ONCE THE CURDS ARE SET, REMOVE FROM HEAT AND LEAVE UNTIL A BIT COLD AND FIRM AND SET. * ADD SOME SALT INTO A BOWL OF WATER. THIS IS IN ORDER FOR THE TASTE OF THE LEMON OR LIME TO BE EASED OFF. * GO AHEAD AND SLICE INTO YOUR DESIRED SHAPE [ YOU CAN CUT INTO CUBES] AND POUR IT INTO THE SALTWATER FOR 15 MINUTES IN ORDER TO ELIMINATE THE TASTE OF LEMON ORLIME.  |
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