Moved!!!

Hey guys! kinda, sorta moved. this site will be for more serious stuff like recipes and how-to’s but for more personal health and wellness stuff you can visit my NEW tumblr page http://healthyasanas.tumblr.com/

Recipe: How to Make Tofu!

Recipe adapted from Asian Tofu by Andrea Nguyen

Mesh strainers

Large and medium pots

Muslin cloth

1 cup organic soy beans

Water

1 tofu mold/box

1.5 tsp gypsum powder

Soak soy beans overnight by putting in bowl with water. Make sure there is 2 inches of water over the soy beans.

Strain soy beans keeping reserved water. Add more water to reserved water until it reaches 8 cups.

Heat 5 cups of that soy bean water in large pot, while putting soaked soy beans and 2 cups water in a blender.

Add blended soy beans to heated soy bean water, plus add 1/2 cup left over soy bean water to rinse blender and add. Mixture will start to foam and rise (10-15 minutes). Then strain with strainer and muslim cloth.

Put soy milk on heat for 5 minutes and skim the skin formed on top. Mean while put 1.5 tsp gypsum powder and 1/2 cup water and let dissolve. Let soy milk simmer, while stirring with spatula.

Turn off heat and add 1/3 of gypsum powder mixture to soy milk, stirring in a “Z” formation. Cover and let sit for 6 minutes. Then spoon and drizzle 1/3 more of the gypsum powder mixture while dipping spatula 1/2 inch in and making Z formations. Let sit for 3 more minutes covered. Then add last 1/3 of gypsum mixture and let sit for 2 more minutes. Stick 1/2 inch of spatula in and stir for 20 seconds. The soy milk should begin to curdle and edges should look watery with whey.

*If it is still milky, let it sit for longer. If it still looks milky, heat it back up and let sit for longer. If it still is milky, add a tsp of gypsum powder and stir. Let sit for longer

Cover tofu mold with muslin cloth in sink. Using a ladle, ladle out water and whey and wet the muslin cloth. Then take out as much whey and water from pot without puncturing the soy curdles. Add soy curdles and left over whey/water to the tofu mold with muslin cloth.

Put mold on baking sheet. Cover with the edges of the muslin cloth, put cover on, and a weight.

* medium texture: 1 lb weight for 15 minutes

* firm texture: 3 lb weight for 15-20 minutes

Open cover and tofu should be slightly bouncy. Take out tofu with muslin cloth and bottom. Make bowl with cold water and stick muslin cloth with tofu in, while gently sliding tofu out of the muslin cloth. Let tofu sit in cold water until cool to touch. Scoop tofu out with spatula or plate. Eat within 8 hours or stick in air tight container filled with water for a week. Keep changing water every day.

Recipe: Kimchi Cabbage!

Kimchi cabbage takes a little longer to make than the daikon one because you have to salt the nappa cabbage.

Ingredients:

1 Nappa cabbage sliced vertically into 4 pieces

1/4 cup chili flakes

1 tbsp salted shrimp (or another salt food, ex: anchovies)

1 tbsp grated ginger

1 chopped scallion

1/4 cup chopped daikon

1 tsp garlic

1 tbsp asian pear

Salt

Cover the cabbage with salt, including between the layers of the leaves. Let sit for 30 minutes. Mean while, add rest of the ingredients together in small bowl. After the 30 minutes, rinse cabbage well with water, and squeeze out water. Salt the cabbage again as in step 1. Continue salting and rinsing in 30 minute intervals, so that you have salted the cabbage 4 times and the thick leaves of the cabbage become soft. Rinse well. Finally, add the chili paste-like mixture between the leaves of the cabbage. Stick it in a large container and keep in fridge. Let it sit for at least 48 hours before eating. Can keep for a month… or longer. The longer the kimchi sits, the better it will taste because of the fermentation process. Enjoy.

 

*the picture is of the kimchi I made.

Recipe: How to make Kimchi Daikon!

Kimchi is a ton of benefits! You can read my benefits of fermentation post to see how great kimchi is for your body. This kimchi recipe is not used with cabbage, however, I will be posting one with nappa cabbage, which is more common.

Ingredients:

1 Daikon radish

3 small cucumbers

1/4 cup ground chili flakes

1 tbsp salted shrimp (or another salty food, like anchovies)

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1 tbsp grated ginger

1 tbsp grated asian pear

1 tbsp garlic

1 chopped scallion

Slice cucumber and daikon into 2-3 inch slivers. Then add all ingredients together in large container. Keep in fridge for at least 24 hours before eating. Can keep for about a month.

 

*the picture is of the kimchi I made.

Making own all-natural body/face scrubs!

I’ve been using this on my skin every time I take a shower now! It makes your skin so soft you don’t even need to moisturize after!

DIY: Coconut-Lime Body/Face Salt Scrub

Jar (or any other container)

Coconut Oil

Essential Oil – Lime

Vitamin E Oil

Salt

Fill jar 3/4 of the way with salt, then add in melted coconut oil until it almost fills the top of the jar. Add 10-20 drops lime oil and 3-5 drops Vitamin E Oil.