Black Bean Milk

Since I got back from Singapore and the Maldives, it’s been raining everyday here in Hong Kong.

As much as I love the rain, I’m kind of hoping it lets up soon since I have to walk outdoors in order to get places. But in the meantime I’m taking the rain as a sign to spend more time in the kitchen.

I haven’t really done much cooking or baking since I’ve been in Hong Kong. Wait, who am I kidding. I’ve barely set foot in the kitchen, aside from last nights steamed dinner, since I arrived here.

Here are two reasons why:

1) There’s too much tasty and easily accessible food throughout Hong Kong. Restaurants, hole in the wall restaurants, street vendors, bakeries, you name it, Hong Kong’s got it. And EVERYWHERE. I like to consider myself a health-concious person, and I still try to make the best possible food choice when dining out, but I still think I may have fallen off the healthy wagon a bit since I got here. Its time to get back on it!

2) Kitchen space here is limited. Actually, all space is limited in Hong Kong. People can live in teeny-tiny apartments. And I’m talking 100 sq ft apartments. Thats tiny, people!

This is my kitchen here. I’m pretty sure it fits a maximum of 3 adults.

It’s tiny compared to the one I have at home (which is about average in size), but I guess I shouldn’t be complaining after I just mentioned that people live in 100 sq ft apartments.

So, in an effort to get back on the healthy-wagon and appreciate my ‘large‘ kitchen space, I’ve been cooking blending. Gotta start off with the easy stuff 😉

Actually, it’s more like the ‘necessary’ stuff. Since almond milk costs an arm and a leg here, well mostly just an arm, I’ve decided it’s easiest to just make my own milk.

Enter:

Black Turtle Beans, better known as black beans to most people (including me).

They’re also called black soyabeans here, but they’re really just black beans of some sort. I’ve seen a lot of people refer to them as cuban black beans.

1 cup of dry black beans soaked in water

Soaked for 7-8 hours or overnight

Drain and rinse the beans

1/2 cup black beans + 2 cups water

I know I soaked 1 cup of beans, but I prefer to make smaller batches each time so I just used 1/2 a cup of beans and refrigerated the other ones for my next batch.

Blend until smooth. About 2-5 mins depending on the blender.

I prefer my milk unsweetened, but if you prefer it sweet, now is the time to add in your sweetener of choice so that it gets thoroughly mixed in…agave, honey, sugar, stevia, anything you like.

Sieve the blended milk through cheesecloth into a pot

Usually I would use a cheese cloth to wring out all the liquid (milk), but since I have no cheese cloth and my blender here has a filter attachment I just used that instead. It doesn’t work as well, but it still traps the remaining pulp.

Pour the sieved liquid into a pot and bring to a slow boil. Once it boils, turn off the heat.

There may be some foam on the top, but no worries, I just scooped it out before pouring the milk into a pitcher.

And there you have it…Black bean milk!

Be sure to store it in the fridge. I’m guessing it should last at least a week, but since I only made it two days ago, I’m not too sure.

I’m not sure what to compare the taste to, but I guess I’d say its most similar to soy milk. A little creamier though.

So far I’ve had black bean milk in my morning cereal mix.

And I’ve mixed it with other milks, 70% black bean milk and 30% soymilk.

I’ve also used it in my protein shake.

1 cup black bean milk, 1/2 packet true vitality chocolate protein powder, 1/3 block silken tofu, 5 frozen cubes of black bean milk, 1/2 frozen banana.

I only used a half packet of protein powder because it’s my last one 😦 Therefore, I added some tofu as extra protein.

I still have 1/2 a cup of soaked beans in my fridge, which I brought to a boil, then simmered for about 15 mins with 1 cup of water after soaking. I plan on blending it with some almonds for a black bean-almond milk once I finish my current pitcher.

Oh, and I forgot to mention…black beans are good for the kidneys 🙂

What’s your favorite kind of milk? – I prefer unsweetened almond milk most of the time, but I also like soy milk.

Do you prefer homemade or store bought milk? I prefer homemade, but most of the time I’m just too lazy to make it 🙂