Cooking With Soy
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About this ebook
Master how to cook delicious and healthy meals and desserts using various types of soy products with Yoshiko’s easy-to-follow recipes and beautiful photography.
Cooking with Soy is packed with stunning main meals, sweet dishes and snacks using the full range of soy products; tofu, miso, edamame, tempeh, aburaage (deep-fried tofu) and okara (soy pulp).
This is soy cooking for everything from Asian cuisine to European cuisines, and much more! There is truly something for everyone and every occasion.
Yoshiko learnt how to cook from a range of different sources including a culinary school in Japan and on site while working in an eclectic range of restaurants from the traditional to three hat level, with a variety of different cuisines. Cooking with Soy incorporates all of this experience as well as her time spent with a reputable healthy detox and gluten free catering company in Sydney, Australia into one easy-to-follow recipe book.
This book is perfect for people who:
-have no clue what to do with tofu
-hate tofu or know a tofu hater
-are a tofu and edamame lover like Yoshiko
-are just looking for new delicious recipes to try
-are vegetarian or vegan
-would like to eat well and be healthy
-would like to increase their plant-based diet
-are lactose intolerant
-have a wheat intolerance
-are allergic to eggs
“I have been collecting cookbooks from around the world but this is by far the best I have ever seen. I have already made 3 tofu cheesecakes for my family because they love it so much.” – Sandra Garrett
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Book preview
Cooking With Soy - Yoshiko Takaeuchi
Why cooking with soy?
I have always believed that what we do in this world should reflect our greatest passions.
I love food and I enjoy anything to do with food; not only eating and cooking it, but also learning about food and its nutritional benefits—even shopping. I also enjoy sharing recipes and passing on my cooking skills. That is why I have been a chef for over a decade and have taught cooking for nearly 20 years, both in Japan and Australia.
I love almost all foods, but I have a special passion for tofu. There might be food out there that is tastier than tofu and some people think tofu is bland and so avoid it. But tofu is a healthy food—it is low in fat and calories, has zero saturated fat, it’s cholesterol-free, rich in protein and provides bone-healthy minerals, like calcium, potassium and magnesium. The benefits of tofu are many and easy to find.
I have a strong passion for health and place a high value on it. So I love that tofu can be so versatile and yet deliver the benefits I need for a healthy life. You can eat it plain, deep-fried, stir- fried, steamed, grilled or stewed. You can use it to make sauces, dressings and desserts. You can change the shape of it—slice it, dice it, grate it, purée it, crumb it—there are so many choices.
Tofu and other soy products have been widely used in Asian cuisine for more than a thousand years and yet they can be used in any type of cuisine—European, Middle Eastern and South American—as you will discover in this book.
In 2007, I started Healthy Soy Cooking to help inspire healthy living and to teach innovative ways to cook with tofu and other soy products such as edamame, miso, soy sauce, soymilk and more.
Since then I have been creating various soy dishes; and not just for Japanese styles, but also for other cuisines I learnt through my commercial cooking days, working in various restaurants. This is the book where I can finally share with you the recipes that I have been teaching and creating for almost 20 years.
So here’s hoping I can inspire you to eat and live healthily, and open up your world to the magic of these healthy and tasty soy dishes!
The story of soy
Go natural
Soybeans are a kind of bean that is used in many various kinds of foods, ranging from soy milk, soy sauce, miso, and tofu. Soybeans are also commonly included in vegetarian and vegan diets due to their nutrient rich nature, and also because of their versatile texture. Soy has been included in Asian cuisine for many hundreds of years, and has more recently entered Western cuisine.
The health benefits of soy
Soy is commonly known as a healthy food. As it can be used as a meat substitute, it is highly nutritious with many health benefits, such as:
1. High in fibre
2. High in protein
3. Free of cholesterol and lactose
4. Low in saturated fat
5. Prevents bone loss
6. Source of omega-3
7. Good source of isoflavones
8. Contains high amount of phytoestrogens, which can help with menopausal symptoms
9. Source of antioxidants
10. Good source of estrogen, which strengthens bones and also lowers cholesterol
The history of soy
Soybeans first originated in China, and were later cultivated in Japan and other Asian countries. Soybeans were first grown in Asia for their seeds, which were used for fermented, dried and fresh foods in Asian diets. Soy features as a primary product in many Asian cuisines, and especially in Japan. Japanese cuisine features soybeans in many forms, incorporating them into their cuisine on a daily basis.
In the early 20th century, soybeans began to be cultivated in America and were initially used as a manure. It was only after the 1940's that soybeans began to be grown as a food product in America. Today, the US is the largest manufacturer of soybeans in the world, along with Brazil, Argentina, India and China also producing large amounts. Soybeans and soy by-products are now readily available in many supermarkets in Western nations. Despite this, the majority of the soybeans produced in the US are GMO. There is a lot of controversy around GMO food, and particularly GMO soybeans. Conflicting arguments about the nature of soy will be explored in the text below.
Japan: The soy country
In Japan, soy is eaten every day in many different ways. Soy sauce is the most common seasoning used in Japan. Soy is consumed in many common food dishes in Japan, such as miso (fermented soybean paste) soup, which is one of the most common national dishes in Japan and is consumed on a daily basis, and very commonly, even more than once a day. In addition to tofu, there are also many other kinds of tofu by-products eaten in Japan, which include aburaage, natto, okara, edamame, atsuage and kinako, which are just a few of them. A fermented soy product like natto is eaten as part of a traditional Japanese breakfast or lunch every day.
In places in Japan such as izakayas, there are always many different kinds of tofu dishes on the menu. The three most commonly consumed soy products in Japan are tofu, miso and soy sauce. These three products are consumed on a daily basis for most Japanese people. Although these soy products are so commonly consumed in Japan, Japan is not a big consumer of soy milk, which differs highly from Western nations who consume lots of soy milk.
In contrast with Western nations, Japan eats most of its soy products in a whole form. In Japan there are also shops that specialise in selling tofu and tofu products, so people have the option of buying freshly made tofu every day. Japan has one similarity with Western nations in that Japanese people consume many soy products on a daily basis. As soy is used in many processed foods, many people in Western nations are consuming soy products unknowingly every day. Soy is one of the essential staples of the Japanese diet, but Japanese people consume soy in different ways than Western nations, which may account for the health differences between the two.
As Japanese people do not consume soy in its processed form, they are more likely to receive many of the health benefits of soy. As the Japanese soybean products are largely made from the whole bean, people who consume soy in this way are less likely to suffer from negative effects. Like any other beans, it is said that consuming soy causes digestion problems. Eating fermented soy products, such as miso, can actually aid digestion though, so a good suggestion would be to try these kinds of soy products first.
Another important thing to consider when thinking about the differences between the rate of cardiovascular diseases in Western nations and Japan is that Japan consumes soy products in moderation.
If you are choosing to include soybeans in your diet, it is best to go organic if you can, or look for labels that state non-GMO soybeans are used. Choosing fermented soybean products such as natto, tempeh, or miso is also a good option.
The controversies about soy
Have you heard that soy is bad for you?
It has been claimed often in the media that soy is not healthy for people to consume, and may in fact damage your health. However, there are also articles that claim that soy is a healthy food product, and should be consumed.
Soy is a controversial topic in the media because there are conflicting arguments about this food product. It has been said that soy is both good and bad for you. This can be confusing, but it is best to educate yourself about both of the arguments and decide for yourself.
The reason why many people believe that soy is bad for you is because there are many kinds of bad soy available, and less good kinds of soy being grown now. In addition to the bad kinds of soy which include GMO and processed soy, many people are developing soy allergies in response to the GMO or processed kinds of soy which furthers the argument that soy is not good for you. However, the evidence provided will hopefully convince you whether or not consuming soy is a lifestyle choice you should consider.
Bad soy: the most common GMO
In the US, over 90% of soybeans are genetically modified. Genetically modified foods often do not contain the nutrients of the genuine food. Not only that, many GMO (genetically modified organisms) foods are sprayed with herbicides which can damage health. GMO foods are considered to be very controversial in the media, and it has been argued that genetically modified foods may cause diseases such as cancer. This is one of the contributing factors in the argument that soy is bad for you.
Despite this, several studies have shown that natural soybeans are actually very nutritious and contain many health benefits.
GMO soy is hidden everywhere
Due to the spread of soy being used in so many processed foods, many people all over the world are consuming GMO soy products unknowingly. The consumption of these GMO soy products often causes allergies, which explains the high rate of allergies to soy in Western nations, while Asian countries have very low rates of soy allergies.
Also, 85% of soybeans manufactured in the US are used to make soybean oil. To extract oil from soybeans, chemicals are used, which remove the health benefits of the soybeans, as well as making soybean oil dangerous to consume. After removing the oil, the leftover soy has chemical residue as well as lessened nutritional benefits.
After making soybean oil, the leftover soybeans are used in other processed products, such as:
1. diet shakes
2. chocolate
3. soy milk
4. commercial baking products
5. protein bars
6. biscuits
7. protein powder
8. commercial cereals
9. some brands of commercial breads found in supermarkets
Are you drinking GMO soybean meal + oil + water = soy milk?
Many people switch from regular dairy such as cow's milk to soy milk in search of a healthier option, or simply to lose weight, but this can sometimes be even unhealthier and less nutritious. The reason for this is not because soy milk is unhealthy in general, but because many kinds of soy milk use GMO soybeans or GMO soybean meal to produce soy milk, which is not nutritious at all and is likely to damage your health.
Usually the packaging will say soybeans on the label, but this generally means that soybean meal has been used. Soybean meal is the by-product of soybean oil,