Japanese Nigari Tofu Coagulant

Also Called: Bittern or Magnesium Chloride

Includes:

• 12 or 24 Oz. of dried, refined, food grade japanese nigari

Nigari is the mineral salt residue left over when table salt is extracted from sea water. It contains many of the trace elements natually found in sea water, but primarily consists of magnesium chloride (also called bittern). Nigari is the traditional Japenese ingredient used to coagulate soymilk to make tofu.

There are many other tofu coagulants that work very well like food grade gypsum, lemon juice, vinegar and food grade epsom salt (magnesium sulfate). In our tofu kits, we recommend using lemon juice because it is cheap, plentiful and easily obtained. Lemon juice or vinegar work every bit as well as other coagulants, and it helps to keep the cost of our kits low.

However if you aim to follow the more traditional Japanese method, this Nigari is what you are looking for. Nigari is said to make tofu that tends to be a little on the softer side, and with the smoothest texture of any other coagulant, but it takes a refined tofu palate to detect the difference.

To use nigari to coagulate your tofu simply disolve 2 teaspoons of nigari into about half a cup of hot water, and stir this gently but quickly into 2 quarts of hot soymilk, and allow to curdle and stand for 15 minutes before transferring to your tofu mold. Yields over a pound of fresh tofu.

A 12 oz bag of nigari is enough to make well over 75 lbs of tofu.