Here’s a recipe for Sweet Soybean Milk (or Drink). For those who’ve never had this drink before, you need to try it!! Find an asian supermarket and purchase a half gallon or two and try it out. Everytime I tell people who’ve never tried it before that I drink it regularly, they give me the disgust face as if it’s some medicinal liquid or something. In this case, ignorance is NOT bliss. You’re missing out on a very traditional Taiwanese necessity especially for breakfast.
Soy beans play an important role in Asian cooking. The beans themselves are used, as well as flour made from dried beans, tofu made from soybean curd and soy sauce made from fermented beans. But anyway, here’s the recipe. I’ve actually made this by hand before too so if you want to make it yourself, here’s the recipe. However, if you just want to try it first.. you can purchase it at any Asian supermarket. The soybean drink you find in American supermarkets aren’t the same. They are good too but distinctly different in taste and authenticity. For this recipe, I’ve edited it a bit to customize it according to my experience.
(Note: Beans need to be soaked days in advance. You also will need an electric blender and a cheesecloth bag or large piece of cheesecloth.)
Ingredients: 1 pound soybeans and 2 cups sugar (add more as necessary).
Step 1: Put the beans in a large pot and add water. The water should be three times the amount of soybeans by volume in the pot. (If the soybeans come up to 2 inches above the bottom of the pot, the water should be an additional 6 inches above that.) Soak the beans for 12 hours.
Step 2: Drain the beans and discard the soaking water. Add 7 cups of fresh water to the beans. Blend this bean and water mixture in an electric blender in several batches until all the beans are finely ground.
Step 3: Place the beans and an additional 8 cups of water in a large cheesecloth bag. Squeeze out the liquid into a large saucepan and discard the bean sediment left in the bag. You can cook the discarded bean sediment if you choose to. We used to do that. Waste not want not.
Step 4: Heat the soybean liquid over medium heat. When it begins to boil, reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes. It’s important that you stir it continuously so leftover sediments do not burn in the pot. Doing so will produce better results so please be mindful of that. Add 2 cups sugar to the milk and serve warm. Of course, if you like it sweeter.. you can add more. I prefer brown sugar. It can be served warm or cold. For the latter, just simply let it cool down and put it in the fridge.