Fermentation Support Forum

We've been using okara (the byproduct of soy milk making) which I think is also known as soy grits, in our cooking, but there is some concern that it may not actually be very good to eat in this form, so I am wondering if anyone has tried fermenting it? Perhaps it would be similar to prep. for Natto?

Mijimberry

Okara can be used to make tempeh. Shurtleff and Aoyagi discuss this in "The Book of Tempeh." I would imagine that if it works for tempeh it will also work for natto. You might also try salting it somewhat, and lacto-ferment it like idli/dosa. Hmmm...yet another thing to try would be soaking it in whey for some time, but I'm guessing you don't keep much of that on hand since you're making soy milk.

I lacto-ferment okara and use it as a base for sausage. Basically I mix the okara with a little salt and kefir, add sausage spices, then pack down into a glass container and cover with a bag of water. It then sits for two days to ferment. It turns quite tangy and tastes great just like that as a hummus but it is a bit on the fibrous side for my tastes so I process it further into a mock sausage. There are a few "soysage" recipes on-line but basically I just add gluten to hold it together, whole cooked buckwheat for texture, and oil for taste then steam it in oiled wide mouth jelly jars for an hour. After it cools it stores in the fridge for quite a while - when I want sausage for breakfast I just empty it from the jar and slice it up and fry it. Unfortunately steaming and then frying kills the lactic acid bacteria but I suspect the fermentation process makes it more digestible and it definitely improves the flavor.

The fermentation you suggested worked well for me - no salt, kefir starter mixed in, left 24 hours at around 38 Celsius. The result is pleasantly sour, like yogurt, and feels as though it might be more easily digestible. Went well with poached smoked haddock for breakfast. What has it done for soy's unfriendly chemicals (phytates etc.). Does anybody know ?

Has anyone tried to ferment Okara with Bacillus subtilis, the same soil bacteria used in fermenting soy in the form of Natto. This fermented soy has the highest concentration of Vitamin K's known and the bacteria is an important probiotic. You can buy the Bacillus subtilis spores or you can probably use Natto as a starter and incubate for a few days the same as when making Natto at home. I eat Natto and might try the next time I have Okara left over from making soy milk. By the way I ferment the milk into soy yogurt as unfermented soy is not a good thing.

Can you tell me more about the fermenting soy milk...I wasn't aware that it was a good food....no offense meant. I thought it was still a problematic thing...that's what I was hearing on Weston Price site...is there more info????
Also culturesforhealth.com sells several cultures for soy including to ones for tempe and miso, I believe.