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I've been messing around with strained soy yogurt the last few days. The following is a recipe for one of the tastier vegan cheeses I've had. It really tastes goaty. It's spready like cream cheese. I developed a taste for goat cheese after I discovered my milk allergy, before I was vegan, because goat milk is easier to digest than cow. If you've never had it, it's more pungent than most cow cheese so the sourness of the soy yogurt works really well. I also used the yogurt to replicate the cream cheese and olive sandwich my grandmother used to make for me when I was 5.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup strained soy yogurt (requires about 1 1/2 cups soy yogurt before straining. Instructions follow.)
1 tsp Chinese white (not red!!!!!) preserved tofu. You should find a jar without chilis or other spices, which isn't hard at most Asian markets. It should ideally contain only tofu, seseme oil, salt, wine, any other neutral flavors that might be in it, and probably MSG because they all have it (I'm not convinced MSG is that bad for you unless you're a person who reacts accutely. Chinese home cooks put it in everything and they live forever unless they eat McDonald's.)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp Vegenaise
1 tbsp chopped fresh herbs and dried herbs. I used 5 or 6 basil leaves, 2 tsp or so fresh rosemary, 1/2 tsp each dried thyme, oregano, and parsley. The more fresh the more better. Go crazy with the herbs.
1 SMALL clove pressed garlic. Only one. You don't want to go crazy with the garlic. A small amount adds savoriness, but you don't want to taste the garlic for itself.
1/2 tsp fresh black pepper
To strain the yogurt, take 1 1/2 to 2 cups (or an entire tub, and have leftovers) of plain, unsweetened soy yogurt. I used Wildwood for this. Line a sieve with an unbleached paper towel or a piece of cloth, prop it up over a bowl, and pour the yogurt into the lined sieve. Cover with plastic wrap to keep it from getting funky tasting in the fridge. Let the liquid strain out for 24-48 hours, refrigerated. After it strains you'll have a paste with about the consistency of thinnish cream cheese.
When the yogurt is strained, combine it with all the other ingredients in a bowl, blend well. Eat. It's good on crackers. I've been thinking about making mac and cheese with it, minus the herbs plus a little earth balance.
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could you squeeze the yogurt in a piece of cloth for a similar effect in less time?
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Holy crepe! This is awesome. I was just thinking that it would be great to find a vegan goat cheeze recipe. I love goat cheeze and haven't had it in so long. I miss it. Thanks for making my tummy and tastebuds all excited! Can't wait to try it!
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Jeff: If you double layered the cloth and squeezed, you could probably cut down on the time but it probably wouldn't be instantanious. I only had a paper towel so I had to make do. It should be reduced by about half and very dry before you make it into cheeze.
Veg-in-training: you're not half as excited as me. I hate most vegan cheeze and I love this stuff. I can't believe I came up with it, it was sort of an accident.
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ooo! yay. this is the one cheese i have missed.
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thewrongumbrella wrote:
It really tastes goaty.
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Awesome! I'll have to try this--here there's a great Belgian product called Biofun, sort of an artisanal soy cheese, and I've been wondering what I'll do when I move to the states and can't get it anymore. This looks like a potentially good replacement.
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I've never heard of preserved tofu. Where did you get it?
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This is so exciting. I don't understand why there seems to be no shortage of vegan substitutes for stuff I never liked anyway (deli slices, mac and cheese, hot dogs), but no substitutes for good stuff. Now if only someone can tell me how to make a vegan approximation of brie...
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Wow, what a great idea! I used to love goat cheese.
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goat cheese is probably on the top 3 list of things i really do miss. thanks for posting this!
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Ijustdiedinside wrote:
thewrongumbrella wrote:
It really tastes goaty.
::laughs maniacally::
Marzipan, preserved tofu comes in jars from the Asian market. It's Chinese. The Chinese name is Dofuru. It's little cubes floating in g.o.o.. The preserved tofu process is a lot like the cheese-making process. The little cubes of tofu are cultured, salted, and packed in jars with rice wine and oil. Ranch 99 in Cupertino has like 15 kinds of it. Most medium to large Asian markets will have at least a couple of kinds. It tastes like really concentrated oversalted sharp cheese. I'm working on more fake cheese recipes using it because it tastes so uncannily nutritional yeasty, like pimiento cheese which I miss because I'm from the South. The teaspoon that's in this recipe is enough to impart a lot of flavor because it's so strong.
Last edited by thewrongumbrella (Wed 6/28/06 8:50 pm)
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Thanks for the info.
I cannot believe the lack of ethnic markets in this town (besides Mexican). And the lack of Indian food. Grrr...
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It's really appalling. And there are so many Chinese Americans (and Chinese, it seems like I meet someone from Beijing every week) affiliated with the University, you would think there would be something closer than Marina. The one Indian place by the river is also appalling and ridiculously overpriced. I've been taking advantage of my commute over the hill this summer to shop at Ranch 99 and eat chaat.
PS if you want a jar of preserved tofu or other Asian stuff I go to the market all the time and you live down the street from me. Something could be arranged.
Last edited by thewrongumbrella (Wed 6/28/06 9:23 pm)
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Wrongumbrella and everyone else-
Has anyone tried this with Silk brand plain? I have everything ready and I am having a ton of trouble straining it. If I put it in my sieve, it just goes right through. If I put it in cheesecloth or paper towel with sieve, it doesn't drain. Silk is the only vegan yogurt around as far as I know and I got the chinese tofu stuff and herbs and all that and am ready to make some damn goat cheese! Help!
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I just made this! It is super yummy.
I have a question about the texture - I blended it in my cuisinart, and it turned out super creamy, instead of a more crumbly, goat cheesey texture. Is it supposed to be creamy? Did I over blend?
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YUM! I am SO going to try this.
There's a local pizza place that has a pizza that I used to LOOOOOOVE when I was vegetarian. There was no meat on it, just fresh spinach and sundried tomatoes and stuff, but it had goat cheese on it.
I got in the habit of making it at home all the time but, of course, couldn't do it anymore once veganism set in.
Now I can try to make it again. YIPEE!
Thanks a million for thinking this up. I can't wait to try it!
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Is thewrongumbreslla in China right now? I think I remember something about that.
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i can't find preserved tofu anywhere near me and i don't have access to a car (i'm 15 and my mom refuses to drive me to the asian superstore). could it be replaced with nutritional yeast? or something??
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Very exciting. Thanks for the recipe!
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pinkhairedcyn wrote:
I just made this! It is super yummy.
I have a question about the texture - I blended it in my cuisinart, and it turned out super creamy, instead of a more crumbly, goat cheesey texture. Is it supposed to be creamy? Did I over blend?
good goat cheese is generally creamy and spready
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just finished it and it's super yummmmmmmyyy.... =]
before going veg i was a cheese connoisseur so this experience just put me in heaven
it tasted and looked perfect.
i didn't follow the recipe exactly...
only used 1 tbs veganaise and i couldn't get the preserved tofu so i omitted it and instead added 1/4 tsp of nutritional yeast. some advice: change the paper towel each day when straining the yogurt. otherwise it stays too moist. i ended up straining mine for an extra day to make it a little bit thicker.
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Talk about weird coincidences. I was just reading an Indian cookbook with a recipe for yoghurt cheese, wondering how it would turn out with soy and added fat.
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Interesting! I'll bet it's good on toasts with a French-style salad.
Last edited by urbanvegan (Sun 8/12/07 8:09 pm)
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