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SOYABEAN AND ITS FORMS
Soyabean-english, bhaat-hindi,
INTRODUCTION:
- Asia is the home of this wonderbean.
- China has played a predominant and ageold role in promoting this bean.
- Soyabean is a beige coloured, small, oval, very hard bean. Though the legumes family is known to be rich in their content of protein, soya among them, contains more than double the amount of most of the others.
- The nutritional storehouse of these beans have made them the most variedly used beans and its products hold a place of honour on the counters of healthfood stores.
- Many foods have found their alternatives in a form of these beans. For eg. Those who are allergic to milk, can safely use soyamilk. Textured Vegetable Protein, known as TVP is made from soy flour and acts as a protein booster in many commercial foods.
- Soya bean can be used in many many forms: as is- boiled, in many dishes like casseroles, salads, etc.
- Flour which is used as TVP, and in baking.
- Rolled form which can be used like rolled oats, and in making soygrit.
- Milk form which has further many uses.
I have listed some of these soy products below:
The bean itself: It is weight for weight, almost double in protein content than other protein rich plant foods. It can soaked and boiled to use as a vegetable, mashed after boiling to make dals, curry, or even add to rice pulao, salads, soups, etc.
Soy sauce: is a very popular sauce, is prepared by fermenting soyabeans in brine. It is is a thin running sauce, which is dark brown in colour and salty to taste.
Soymilk: This is a milk extracted from the soyabean. The beans are
soaked, ground, water added and the liquid is simmered till a thick
white milk is obtained. This is then strained off to give a smooth
textured milk. It has a slightly legumy flavour, and is sugar and
cholestrol free. It is also very low in saturated fats and forms a
popular health food for the health food conscious. This `milk'
can be sued in making many many more drinks and dishes which can be
made from normal milk too!!
Soydrinks: Soydrinks are prepared by flavouring soymilk with
the desired flavours, colours and sweeteners. Like `strawberry
milkshake' or `vanilla shake', etc.
Tofu: Tofu(in Chinese) or Bean curd is one of the most popular forms of soyabean products available. It is a paneer like extract go by curdling the soymilk and draining of the liquid. This residue is then pressed lightly giving silky tofu. If it is pressed a bit more and is used in the spongy state it is called soft tofu, and pressed enough to form a solid cheeselike block, which can be cut and fried, etc. is firm tofu. All these forms are commercially available esp. in health food stores. Silky tofu lends itself well to the preparation of icecreams, white sauces, etc. Soft is compatible to be used in sprinkling over stirfried veggies, casseroles, bread fillings, etc. Firm tofu can be used fried in gravies, curries, and also in kababs, snacks, etc.
Tempeh: This is highly ferment soybean, and has black marks on the beans. Add the zing to spicy vegetables, and sauces, as also curries and gravies.Found in healthfood stores, it contains a very high level of VitaminB12.
Okara: The pulpy solid residue left while straining off soymilk is called okara. It can be used in binding doughs for baking,etc., or in soups for body, or in combination with vegetables when stirfried.
Others: There are other products like soycompoud (dehydrated soymilk or soymilk powder),soycream, soycheese which can be use as any other cheese and comes even in a variety of flavours, such as garlic, mint, herbs, pepper, etc.
I am listing some recipes which use soyabeans or soyabean products as a major ingredient, but there is no limit to the uses of this wonderful gift of nature, and you can make many many more, using a bit of imagination, creativity and your cookery skills.
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