How Do You Make Soy Cheese?

Already some info on Blurtit about making a soya "cream cheese" substitute (here).

There are many other fake cheese recipes on the Internet.  Most of them are pretty similar: Soy flour, agar (or another gelling agent), and some water and fat.

You can also get cheese substitutes out of other ingredients without soy: Lemon juice, tahini, cashew nuts, oats, yeast, etc.

Here's an example:

1 cup soy flour
900 ml water


1. Blend soy flour with just a little water until smooth.

2. Bring the rest of water to a boil, then blend with soy flour paste from step 1.

2. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently.  If too thick, add a little more water.  Better too much water than too much flour.

3. Stir in 1 - 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, citric acid or apple cider vinegar.  If mixture is slow to congeal, add a little more lemon juice (or substitute).  It should separate into a fine curd and yellow fluid.

4. Leave stand for 20 minutes, or until the cheese has formed a good curd.

5. Drain liquid away (using a fine strainer).

6. Chill.  May flavour with salt, tomato or green herbs.

Milk and milk products have been used and experimented on for ages. The nutrients in milk have complimented and supported existence as the most basic form of food. A recent development is that of soy milk, cheese and other products. Soy is a bean that has always been heralded for its easy accessibility, affordability and price. This makes an indispensable part of any project undertaken to deal with malnutrition. Soy is rich in protein and fat and has all the essential nutrients available for consumption, at a price much less than that of the milk of animals like cows and buffaloes.

However, the consumption of soy milk and milk products is not limited to cases of undernourished children and adults in third world nations only. The word has spread and many diet and health conscious people the world over are dedicated users of soy products. Extracting soy milk form the soy bean is an intricate process, involving mechanization and processing. Soy cheese is then made from the extracted milk. A thickening agent derived from red sea-weed is added to the milk. The carrageenan or red sea-weed extract, serves as a fat soluble in the process. The caseinates added as dairy proteins to soy milk are usually avoided nowadays. The Kraft Company has now come up with the use of enzymes to turn the soy protein hydrolyzates into amino acids. Once the break down is accomplished the product is treated and compressed according to the usual standards of cheese-making and packed.

The distinct flavour of soy is not liked by many and hence, flavouring agents like honey and fruit are added, as per preference of the consumer market.