7 from soy

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

Soy 'cheese' Dairy cheese substitutes may be firm, tofu-like blocks redolent of five-spice or artificially flavored cheddar and American copycats. This category needs work. Health, grocery, Asian stores. Photos by Andrew Shimabuku The Honolulu Advertiser

Edamame Whole soybeans in the shell, fresh or frozen; boil with salt, may additionally be stir-fried. Pleasant-tasting, easy to eat. Add to salads or vegetable medleys. Health, grocery, Asian stores, farmers' markets.

Tempeh "Natto for wimps," fermented soybean cake (also made with grains) has crunchy texture, nutty flavor. Serve in stir-fries, sandwiches or braised with sauce. Keep chilled. Health food stores, Indonesian markets.

Soy beans, soy flour Hide slow-cooking, bland-flavored beans in soups, chilies for nutrition boost. Flour boosts protein in baked goods. Store airtight in cool, dry cupboard.

Soy 'milk,' left Rising star of the soy world. Wide range of brands, flavors, styles. No cholesterol, but contains fat and sugar. Health, grocery, Asian stores. Tofu, baked tofu, right Familiar Island favorite comes in textures from extra firm (holds shape in cooked dishes) to creamy-smooth. Try flavored baked tofus in lieu of meats. Store chilled, change water daily. Grocery stores.

U.S. sales of soy foods are expected to top $273 million this year. A study by VitaSoy USA found that one in four Americans eats soy foods weekly. And soy milk sales have doubled annually in recent years — most of that increase coming in grocery stores, not health-food stores.

There's evidence that more Americans would weave high-protein, low-fat soy foods into their diets in place of meat and dairy foods if they knew the foods tasted good and were confident of how to use them.

For every Remy Felicio of Honolulu, who has been buying Silk-brand soy milk for her family for the past couple of years and using it in cooking, there is a Josie Tam of Kaimuki, who says she's interested in soy foods that are less familiar to her but doesn't know where to start.

"I know tofu, I been eating it since small-kid time," said Tam. "But I don't know about this soy milk or soy burger or whatever, and some of these things are kind of expensive. I don't want to try 'em and find out I don't like 'em or they don't work in the recipe."

The manufacturers of Silk soy milk strategically targeted the Tams of the world with improved taste and flavored milks (vanilla, chocolate), flashier packaging with lots of information on it (including sound bites about the health benefits of soy foods) and wider distribution (it's in grocery-store dairy cases next to the milk, not in dusty, odd-shaped shelf-stable packaging in the health-food section).

Dan Laney of Waikiki, a vegan all his adult life (meaning he eats no animal products), says consumers today have it easy. He recalls when he made his own soy milk, a tedious process.

"The products we have today are head-and-shoulders over just a few years ago. Some of these soy milks today are so rich-tasting, they seem like ice cream to me. They've actually bred different varieties of soybeans to have a less 'beany' flavor," he said.

Felicio, picking up a carton of Silk at Safeway Beretania, laughed when asked if she was a vegetarian. "We are far from that! We're just trying to cut our daily cholesterol intake so we can have more meat and butter when we want it!" (Soy, being a vegetable food, has no cholesterol, though it does contain some fat.)

Felicio said she wasn't sure originally if she could get her husband and teenage son to try soy milk, but they have learned to like it. "We learned to go from whole milk to 1 percent gradually. We learned to like soy milk the same way," she said.

While most agree that soy milks have arrived, taste- and texture-wise, there's a considerable range of acceptance and understanding of soy foods. At the other end of the spectrum, for example, is the Indonesian favorite tempeh, an excellent high-protein, low-fat food that is easily digested and has an interesting flavor, but still occupies only a tiny bit of shelf space, and in Honolulu is found only in health-food stores.

Danni Taylor, who recently moved to Honolulu but taught classes in vegetarian cooking in her neighborhood community school in Seattle, said she tries to draw parallels that would help consumers understand a food's properties and best uses.

"Tofu is easy here; everybody eats it. But on the Mainland it's still strange," Taylor said. "So I would compare the various kinds of tofu to foods people knew. Soft tofu is like ricotta cheese: You layer it into lasagna and it picks up the flavor of the herbs and the tomato sauce. Firm tofu is like pork tenderloin or chicken breast. It's kind of soft-flavored, so you can give it any taste you want, then slice it and poach, grill or fry it quickly. Tofu is also like eggs or cream or mayonnaise:

It can be used to give a thick texture. You just have to give it flavor, too."

She suggests following these general principles:

• Don't switch overnight. Work gradually, substituting soy for part of the usual meat or dairy ingredients in a familiar recipe.
• Although the flavor of today's soy milks is quite pleasant and more closely resembles dairy milk than ever, those who are resistant should follow the same path as when switching from whole to 2 percent, skim or nonfat: Gradually wean yourself by mixing soy and dairy, then using soy only on cereal, finally drinking soy as a beverage.
• Buy small amounts of different brands of soy foods and taste-test them. Maybe you and a friend or neighbor could pool resources and exchange. There's considerable difference between brands of soy foods, particularly soy convenience foods; if you don't like Gimme Lean, you might like Boca Burger.
• Use familiar aromatics, herbs and flavorings to mask unfamiliar soy flavors until you're used to them and learn to enjoy them.
• Work "invisibly." Use soy milk in a white sauce or in baking. Scramble tofu into eggs. Add tempeh to a stir-fry or ground beef dish. Mix a few edamame into a variegated salad. Use boiled soybeans in spicy chili. Sneak cut-up soy hot dogs into baked beans.
• Don't tell anyone what you're up to. "Wait until they say, 'That was good,' " suggested Taylor.

Soy products provide plenty of protein

To help with your experimentation, here's a guide to eight soy products.

Dried beans: There are more than 2,000 varieties of soybeans, although, unfortunately, most of the bulk beans sold in health-food stores were bred not for eating plain but for processing (into tofu, etc.) and so are generally bland and may cause gassiness. Cookbook author Lorna J. Sass raves about black soybeans, which have a silky texture and sweet, nutty taste (www.soybeanstore.com or in some Asian stores).

Dried soybeans require overnight soaking and three to four hours of boiling before use in a recipe. One cup of dried soybeans — a LOT — has 774 calories, 37 grams fat (5 grams saturated fat), 4 milligrams sodium, 56 grams total carbohydrate (17 grams fiber, none sugar), and 68 grams protein. It is a very good source of protein, folate and iron and of thiamin, riboflavin, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and copper.

Soy flour: This very high-protein flour is made from ground roast soybeans. Substitute for up to one-quarter of the flour in baking (too much makes the product heavy and pale). It is also useful for thickening sauces and gravies or as a breading. A cup of low-fat soy flour contains 327 calories, 9 grams fat, 33 grams carbohydrate (9 grams fiber and none sugar), 41 grams protein, and is an excellent source of iron, potassium and folate and a good source of calcium.

Edamame (soybeans boiled in the pod): This popular bar food is one of the few snacks that's as good for you as it is fun to eat. It's easy to prepare now that frozen bags of partly cooked beans are widely available. Just drop into briskly boiling salted water, cook for 3 to 8 minutes (check package directions), drain and serve. Half a 10-ounce bag (á cup shelled) contains 120 calories, 5 grams fat, 10 milligrams sodium, 9 grams carbohydrate (4 grams fiber and none sugar), 460 milligrams sodium and significant amounts of vitamins A and C, calcium and iron.

Soy "meat": Almost every meat product you can think of — hot dogs, sausages, bacon, beef cutlets, chicken fingers, ground beef — has its soy-based analog. In general, the taste is more artificial and the texture more spongy or chewy than the real thing; they are best with sauce or condiments. The savings in calories and fat can be considerable: A regular bun-length Oscar Meyer beef weiner contains 180 calories and 16.3 grams fat; a bun-length Weaver chicken weiner contains 145 calories and 11 grams fat; Yves Jumbo Veggie Dogs, 100 calories and 1.5 grams fat, none of it saturated or trans fat.

Soy milk: If soy milk was a song, it would be moving up the charts with a bullet. Soy milk is made by soaking and cooking soybeans, then grinding them and pressing out the "milk," which may then be sweetened or flavored.

The nutritional breakdown varies by brand and flavor, from as low as 80 calories per cup to as high as 140; check labels. Plain Silk brand contains 100 calories per cup, 4 grams fat, 120 milligrams sodium, 8 grams carbohydrate (1 gram fiber, 6 grams sugar) and 7 grams protein. Many soy milks are sweetened and may contain 5 to 8 grams of sugar. It is an excellent source of thiamine and a good source of magnesium and riboflavin.

Soy "cheese": A variety of cheese-like products are made with soy milk, some that mimic Western-style cheese and others that are more like tofu. Mrs. Cheng's, a favorite brand of soy milk products in Hawai'i, makes a soy cheese from tofu that's flavored with shoyu, anise, star anise and cinnamon. While Mrs. Cheng's was appealing, we found other soy cheeses rubbery, waxy and oddly flavored. Like dairy cheese, it must be refrigerated; unlike dairy cheese, it can grow stringy and separate in cooking. Veggie brand soy cheddar contains 60 calories per 1-ounce piece, 3 grams fat, 390 milligrams sodium, 2 grams carbohydrate, no fiber or sugar and 6 grams protein.

Tempeh (tem-pay): Invented in Indonesia, tempeh is made by hulling and partly cooking soybeans, then innoculating them with a culture. The beans form a cake bound together with a white mycelium and develop a yeasty, sweetish, slightly fermented flavor. Tempeh comes in both plain soy form and mixed other grains.

To use tempeh, slice into "fingers" or smaller squares or mince and use in place of chopped or ground meats in stir-fries, chili, braises. Tempeh dries out quickly; in baked dishes, make sure it's covered with sauce. One third of a block of White Wave brand (76 grams, about 2.5 ounces) contains 180 calories, 8 grams fat (1 gram saturated), 10 milligrams sodium, 12 grams carbohydrate (8 grams fiber and none sugar) and 16 grams protein, and offers some calcium and iron.

Tofu: Familiar tofu is essentially a cheese made from coagulated soy milk; just as rennet causes cheese to set, nigari (magnesium chloride) or gypsum (calcium sulfate) are used to set soy milk. Tofu cakes range in size, flavor and texture depending on the manufacturer.

Store in the refrigerator, changing water daily. Pressing the water out of tofu by placing a flat, heavy weight on top creates a dense texture that lends itself to frying, baking, broiling or grilling. A slice of Mori-Nu silken extra-firm tofu has 32 calories, 1 gram fat, 82 milligrams sodium, 1 gram carbohdyrate (none fiber or sugar), and 6 grams protein and offers some calcium and iron.

Sources: Lorna Sass' "Complete Vegetarian Kitchen"; Silk/White Wave Web site, www.silkissoy.com; nutritiondata.com; www.drweil.com; "Bowes & Church's Food Values of Portions Commonly Used" by Jean A. T. Pennington; product labels.

Put a little soy in chutneys, shakes

Incorporating soy foods into your diet is easier now because so many soy-based convenience foods are readily available.

We'll start, however, with an old-style recipe for a spicy, rich-tasting baked-beans dish that makes use of the lowly soybean in its unadorned, dried form. Though there's not much actual work involved here, this recipe does take time because the beans have to be presoaked and boiled, then simmered and baked.

Baked Soybeans with Chutney

• 1 cup dried soybeans
• 2/3 cup finely mango chutney
• 12 ounces tomato paste
• 3 teaspoon dry mustard
• Soaking liquid from beans
• 2-3 yellow onions
• 4-6 tablespoons molasses

Wash beans. Immerse in water overnight. Drain beans, reserving water. Place beans in heavy stockpot, cover with water and boil 3 to 4 hours, until beans are just tender. (Or process in pressure cooker 20 to 22 minutes at full pressure, then allow to release naturally 12 to 15 minutes.)

Meanwhile, mince chutney or process briefly in food processor. Peel onions and cut into eighths, breaking into sections.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large, heavy-bottomed Dutch oven, combine drained beans, chutney, tomato paste, mustard, onions and molasses and stir in 1 1/2 cups of reserved soaking water from beans. Bring to a gentle boil and simmer until sauce is slightly thickened. Place in preheated, 325-degree oven for 1 1/2 hours.

From: "The Vegetarian Epicure" by Anna Thomas (Vintage, 1972).

Andrew Weil, the bearded, smiling physician whose focus is health through nutrition, likes to make a tofu fruit shake for breakfast. Here's his recipe, which can serve as a template for many flavors by varying the fruit used (keep the tofu and banana, vary the juice and the frozen fruit).

Soy Shake

• 1/2 cake silken tofu
• 1/2 cup apple juice
• 1 cup frozen strawberries
• 1 banana

Blend and serve.

From: "The Healthy Kitchen" by Andrew Weil and Rosie Daley (Knopf, 2002).

This is a building-block recipe for tempeh, Indonesian fermented soybean cake, one that you can eat as is or add to salads, pastas or sandwiches. It's quick and easy and a good introduction to the ingredient, which is found in health-food stores.

Marinated Pan-fried Tempeh

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon water or apple juice
• 1 tablespoons shoyu
• 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• 1 large clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 8 ounces tempeh, cut into 1/4-inch-by-2-inch "fingers"
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• Optional garnish: lemon wedges, minced parsley

Combine all ingredients except tempeh and olive oil in a small, covered container and stir or shake well.

Place tempeh fingers in marinade and refrigerate 3 to 4 hours, shaking once or twice to distribute.

Brush or spray a thin film of oil on a large skillet or wok and fry half the tempeh over medium-high heat until browned, about 2 minutes on the first side and 1 minute on the second side. Brush skillet with oil again and fry the remainder.

Serve hot or at room temperature with lemon wedges and minced parsley garnish, if desired.

From: "Lorna Sass' Vegetarian Kitchen" by Lorna J. Sass (William Morrow, 2002).