In this past few years of my experience as a practicing Nutritionist, I have been opportune to meet a few patients that are lactose intolerant. Those that are lactose intolerant do not have the ability to digest the sugar lactose found in milk and some milk products thereby leading to bloating (accumulation of gas in the stomach), diarrhea and other symptoms. This is usually due to lack of lactase enzyme produced in the small intestine.
As they avoid this important food, they tend to lose a lot of nutritional benefits. In view of this there is need for them to consume milk substitutes that do not trigger any intolerance but supply good nutrients to the body. A typical example is Soy milk, a plant based source of milk that does not contain lactose and so cannot lead to intolerances.
Method To Make Your Own Soy Milk
Soy milk is quite available in many grocery store but most of the processed soy milk have higher amounts of food additives that could trigger some health conditions. It is essential and cost effective to learn how to make this milk substitute at home.
Ingredients:
- Soy Beans (150 g) to make 1littre of Soy milk.
- A pinch of salt (optional)
- Water (as appropriate)
Equipment
- A blender; Kenwood or Philips
- Muslin cloth
- 1 Sieve and 2-3 bowls
- A measuring cup
Method:
Have you hands properly cleaned before touch the food item. Do not forget to make sure your equipment are clean too.
- Grab the 150gram Soya beans and pour into a big bowl.
- Add enough quantity of portable water to cover the beans well enough to give room for swelling.
- Keep the mixture for about 8 hours or overnight. By that time, you would have noticed the beans had doubled or tripled in size.
- Drain the water away using a sieve or carefully pour the water away.
- Prepare and add hot water at 6O°C to the beans. It will help soften the hull of the beans so that it can be easily removed by hand rubbing and help inhibit further enzyme activities just after the soaking.
- Rub the beans between your hands to take away the hull or skin just like you would do to beans in the making of Moimoi and Akara until it is completely done.
- Carefully remove the hull by washing with water again and again until it remains the de hulled soy beans. Usually the hull will rise to the top.
- Pour the entire Soya beans into a blender and add 1 litre of portable water.
- Blend for like five minutes and pour into a bowl. Ensure the solution is smooth.
Using another bowl, place a muslin cloth over it and pour the solution into it in order to sieve out only the soy milk. You could use you hands to squeeze further to get more of the milk. The insoluble substance gotten here is called Okara and can be used as cattle feed.
Once you have completely achieved this, the solution can be placed on cooker to simmer slightly. Make sure it is on low it for 15 to 20 minutes. This will make the soy milk completely fit for consumption. During this period, a thick sheet of the soy solution might appear on the top, use a spoon to scrape it off. You do not need to cover the pot in this process.
Allow to cool and finally pour the solution into a sieve placed over another bowl to get the final soy milk with no sediment or beans particle.
Your healthy soy milk is ready for consumption. To enjoy it, you could add a pinch of salt and sugar to taste and keep it in the refrigerator. But these are completely optional. However, you might prefer flavouring it this way.
PLEASE NOTE: While soy milk contains no lactose and no form the symptoms of lactose intolerance could occur, it is important that people who chose soy milk as a substitute should gradually include it into their diets until their system completely adjust to it.
I should also add that people that cannot digest lactose can go for other processed milk options such as Yoghurt. Lactose in milk has been converted to lactic acid in yoghurt. It is good option too.
