Tofu Lovers! Now you can Get Drunk on your Favourite Meat substitute
I don’t think there is a food in existence that can make people passionately argue, shake with fear or turn their stomachs so much as tofu. There are people who just don’t like tofu, and heaven help the person who puts it within ten feet of their plate. Though rather bland on its own, tofu is a great absorber of flavouring and seasoning. You can make these little devils taste like just about anything. An incredible food both low in calories and high in protein and iron, it has now got an upgrade!!
You can scramble tofu and have it for breakfast. You can have it in milk form and put it in your coffee. You can bake it, blend it, fry it, mix it, crumble it, and ferment it, turn it into pudding, curry, cheesecake, stir fries, and smoothies.
And now, tofu whey has been magically turned into an alcoholic drink- so that you can get high on it.
Scientists these days.
The wine is made with a waste product known as tofu whey, according to a release from the National University of Singapore. Tofu whey is a liquid that
is smelly and susceptible to harbouring bacteria. Manufacturers typically discard it for this reason, and it can pollute rivers if not treated properly.Researchers in Singapore decided to put the waste product to good use by converting the soy whey into wine—without the use of artificial flavors.
“The traditional way of manufacturing tofu produces a large amount of whey, which contains high levels of calcium and unique soya nutrients such as isoflavones and prebiotics. Hence, disposing tofu whey is wasteful. Very little research has been done to transform tofu whey into edible food and beverage products. I had previously worked on alcohol fermentation during my undergraduate studies in NUS, so I decided to take up the challenge of producing an alcoholic beverage using the whey. The drink turned out to be tasty, which is a pleasant surprise,” said Mr Jian-Yong Chua, PhD student from the Food Science and Technology Programme at the NUS Faculty of Science.
“Alcoholic fermentation can serve as an alternative method to convert tofu whey into food products that can be consumed directly,” said Liu Shao Quan, an associate professor at NUS. “Our unique fermentation technique also serves as a zero-waste solution to the serious issue of tofu whey disposal.”
To accomplish this impressive feat, they employed yeasts to ferment the waste product just like what winemakers do to make your favorite bottle of red or white. Amino acids and minerals found in tofu whey help foster the growth of yeast in the process. The new drink is created with zero waste, meaning that there are no waste products produced in the making of the wine, so it is a sustainable choice.
Chua took three months during which he perfected the unique recipe to make the alcoholic beverage under the guidance of Liu. Chua started off by making fresh soya milk and then made tofu out of it. He then collected the whey and added sugar, acid and yeast to it and left it to ferment into an alcoholic drink. Chua along with the beverage came up with a fermentation technique so that not a single drop of tofu whey would be wasted.
It may be alcoholic, but Sachi’s creators say the wine comes with health benefits. For example, tofu whey contains high levels of calcium and unique soya nutrients such as prebiotics and naturally occurring antioxidants called isoflavones, which can improve bone health, heart health and even prevent cancer.
Named Sachi, which means flowers and wisdom in Japanese, the beverage is not yet available. The process is lengthy and storing the drink requires substantial resources, so there’s no word yet on whether it’s feasible to produce in large quantities. The team is also fine-tuning the flavor to include more fruity and floral notes.
