Hodo Soy Beanery

Last month, I had only briefly mentioned our field trip to Hodo Soy Beanery in Oakland.  I have finally uploaded photos from our ever-growing Picasa albums.  Come join us on a virtual tour!

Bags of 40-lb. non-GMO organic soy beans from the Midwest.  Only mature, dried beans (white beans) are used for the full protein nutrient value.  Edamame beans (green beans) are too immature and don't have enough protein to hold the tofu together during processing.  First, the beans are soaked overnight.

The rehydrated beans are heated, then they are sent into a grinder (the round cylinder sitting on the floor).  The milk and pulp are then separated, and the milk is further refined by a vibrating filter.  Hodo only does one pressing.

The pulp is recycled as food for the organic hog farmer.  A limited amount of the soy milk is used for drinks and sweetened with agave.  The rest of the soy milk is then mixed with a coagulant, calcium sulfate, to create curd and whey.  There is no use for the whey at this point (if you have suggestions, Hodo would love to hear them). 

The curds are poured into pans lined with cheesecloth and pressed by a machine that is carefully calibrated.

Slabs of firm tofu (about 5 lbs each), still wrapped in cheesecloth, at the end of the press.  Firm tofu has less liquid than medium tofu and silken tofu is hand-made.

A worker opens the cheesecloth

And flips the slab of firm tofu out

Minh, the owner and co-founder, cuts the tofu into squares with a special cutting tool

Yuba making is the coolest process!  Soy milk is poured into 4-inch pans and steamed.  Proteins rise and form a skin, which is cured for a little bit, then removed from the pan

Yum!

The skin forms quickly!  By the time the worker had hung all the yuba from the pans, skin has already formed on the other aisle.

The mysterious "potato" tofu!  LOL  It's a lump of poached tofu

Prepared foods from Hodo's kitchen

We came home with a block of medium tofu, hijiki tofu salad, spicy yuba strips, and 5-spice tofu nuggets.  Plus soy milk (of course) and a dessert (tau fu fah). All delicious and devoured quickly.

And we've been making our own soy milk every since! :)

You might also enjoy:
CBS-5 Eye on the Bay segment on Hodo Soy Beanery