Roast Your Own Soy Nuts
Posted: March 4th, 2010, 7:05 pm
I have a hard time finding soy nuts -- they aren't available at all in my small town, dry roasted or otherwise. And when I do find them in the city, they're on the expensive side, and usually with oil, not dry roasted. I have a container of soy beans at home, so I decided to try making my own dry roasted soy nuts. It was easy, and they're crunchy without being hard, and I can season them any way I want to.
Oven Roasted Soy Nuts
2 c dry soybeans
Rinse soybeans in cool water and place in a bowl large enough to allow beans to double in size. Cover the beans with water; the water level should be a few inches above the beans so they can expand. Allow the beans to soak at least 8 hours.
(I soaked just over 24 hours, so beans would barely start to ferment, which makes the nutrients more available. If you allow your beans to soak longer than 24 hours, you'll see a small amount of foam collect on the surface of the water. These are harmless gas bubbles, primarily carbon dioxide, that result from the breakdown of the bean's sugar during fermentation.)
Preheat the oven to 330°F.
Rinse the beans and drain. Spread the soaked beans in one thin layer on a baking sheet. Roast 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring a couple of times, until well browned and toasted. Remove from oven and let cool. A long, slow roast produces the crispiest soy nut.
The beans will give up moisture and steam/cook for the first 20 minutes. Browning occurs rapidly after the beans are relatively dry. Stirring prevents the beans on the edges from burning.
Finally, don't salt the soybeans during the initial roasting. The wet bean will absorb the salt. The salt inside the bean will draw and hold water, preventing the bean from drying effectively, and you'll have soggy, hard soybeans, not crunchy soy nuts.
While the beans are cooling (or the next day, or whenever you have time), reduce the oven temperature to 200°F. Return the beans to the tepid oven and forget about them for several hours while they dry.
While they are hot and dry during this second time in the oven, you can add flavors if you want to. Mix a couple tablespoons of water with some sea salt and/or seasonings of choice (I like cinnamon if I'm going to mix the nuts with raisins. Or if eating the nuts by themselves, I can use chili and lime, garlic powder, wasabi, or any other flavor that grabs your attention). Mix thoroughly through the hot soy nuts, and return to the oven until they are thoroughly dried again. This keeps the salt on the surface of the bean so it won't suck moisture in so much.
Store in an airtight container.
Oven Roasted Soy Nuts
2 c dry soybeans
Rinse soybeans in cool water and place in a bowl large enough to allow beans to double in size. Cover the beans with water; the water level should be a few inches above the beans so they can expand. Allow the beans to soak at least 8 hours.
(I soaked just over 24 hours, so beans would barely start to ferment, which makes the nutrients more available. If you allow your beans to soak longer than 24 hours, you'll see a small amount of foam collect on the surface of the water. These are harmless gas bubbles, primarily carbon dioxide, that result from the breakdown of the bean's sugar during fermentation.)
Preheat the oven to 330°F.
Rinse the beans and drain. Spread the soaked beans in one thin layer on a baking sheet. Roast 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring a couple of times, until well browned and toasted. Remove from oven and let cool. A long, slow roast produces the crispiest soy nut.
The beans will give up moisture and steam/cook for the first 20 minutes. Browning occurs rapidly after the beans are relatively dry. Stirring prevents the beans on the edges from burning.
Finally, don't salt the soybeans during the initial roasting. The wet bean will absorb the salt. The salt inside the bean will draw and hold water, preventing the bean from drying effectively, and you'll have soggy, hard soybeans, not crunchy soy nuts.
While the beans are cooling (or the next day, or whenever you have time), reduce the oven temperature to 200°F. Return the beans to the tepid oven and forget about them for several hours while they dry.
While they are hot and dry during this second time in the oven, you can add flavors if you want to. Mix a couple tablespoons of water with some sea salt and/or seasonings of choice (I like cinnamon if I'm going to mix the nuts with raisins. Or if eating the nuts by themselves, I can use chili and lime, garlic powder, wasabi, or any other flavor that grabs your attention). Mix thoroughly through the hot soy nuts, and return to the oven until they are thoroughly dried again. This keeps the salt on the surface of the bean so it won't suck moisture in so much.
Store in an airtight container.