If you’ve studied Japanese, one thing you may have puzzled over is why some things earn the honorific prefix “o-” or “go-”, while other equally (or even more) noble things don’t. Why are beer and telephones (o-biru and o-denwa) worthy of honour, while wine and computers are not? It is a mystery.
Traditional foods often earn honorifics in Japanese, even humble ones like “o-kara” – a byproduct of the tofu making process. “Kara” literally means husk or shell, and okara is the pulp that you filter out of the soybean slurry to get soy milk. Anyone could be forgiven for not seeing what’s so honourable about it; it’s bland, and not known to make anyone’s mouth water (though one of our cats seems to like the smell).
That being said, okara does have some redeeming properties. It’s high in fiber, as you’d expect, and contains protein, calcium, iron, and riboflavin. It’s flexible. And, although it goes bad very quickly, it freezes nicely, so you can store it until you need it.
The Japanese have long understood that okara is a valuable food, not to be thrown away. There, it’s often served as a side dish, unohana, made with okara, vegetables, sugar, soy and sake. Unohana is served cold – and I ate it for years thinking it was made with tofu. It’s only when I moved to the United States and started making tofu that I realized what okara was, and had to start figuring out ways to use it (as every litre of soy milk generates about a cup of okara, and we weren’t about to throw it out).
So, for those of you who might be struggling to use up all the okara you generate, and who regularly throw some away, here are a few of the experiments we’ve tried, with varying levels of success:
Okara falafel: We found this recipe online last week and tried it out with a few changes. We added a bit more flour to give the mixture the consistency of drop biscuit batter, threw in some cayenne pepper, and used cilantro rather than parsley. The result was so good that we served it to guests recently (with some tahini, lemon and garlic sauce). Everyone enjoyed it, and was surprised to find out what they were eating. The “falafel” was dense, flavourful, and moist with a crispy crust. Simply amazing.
Baking: Many people use okara in baking, and it gives breads body and moisture. Bonnie Lee used okara in the pumpkin bread I blogged about a few weeks ago. This was another huge success.
Stealth okara: This isn’t one dish, but rather a class of dishes. Okara has the texture of porridge, and, being bland, can be mixed into a number of foods without significantly changing their flavour or texture. This includes things like mashed potatoes, actual porridge and polenta. Okara is almost undetectable in mashed potatoes and porridge (when it makes up about 25% of the volume). Okara made the polenta I tried creamier (I used ¼ cup corn meal, 2 cups water, and ¾ cups okara) – though I found that it set less well, and wasn’t suitable for slicing and frying the next day. These stealth applications are a great way to use up okara.
Vegan pancakes: I haven’t experimented with this much, but did make one batch of my usual recipe substituting buttermilk with soy milk, and the eggs with okara. These ended up being heavy, but tasty enough. I use a mix of baking powder and baking soda, so a little dash of vinegar will help lighten them up next time.
Soups & eggs: We’ve added okara to a few soups and to omlettes. It can add a little grittiness to those if you overdo to okara, but we’ve had a few moderate successes there. More experimenting needed here.
Things we have yet to try: If you make tofu at home, I strongly suggest that you get The Book of Tofu, which has many ideas to springboard off of, including: okara soufflés, croquettes, chapaties, granola and a variety of baked goods.
222 million tons 
I always learn SO much when I come here. I have heard of okara but knew nothing about it, not even that it was tofu-related. Once I start making my own tofu (still haven’t tackled the dehydrator though!) I will know what to do with my ‘waste.’ Have you considered the art of yuba making? You could borrow my pristine, in-box dehydrator…
Glad I can return the favour now and then. I’ll take you up on the yuba challenge, though before I get to the dehydrator, I’ll have to master making tofu skins. By then, maybe it won’t be so pristine.
PS You had me at falafel
The success with falafel was unexpected. My expectations were pretty low, and the result was a very pleasant surprise. Would mail you some, but they’re all gone now (and are better fresh out of the pan anyway).
As a tester of the okara falafel I can indeed confirm that it was absolutely delicous! Like nothing I’ve had before and I mean that in the highest of praise.
Thanks, Jayson. Glad you enjoyed them – and I was happy to have an excuse to stretch my vegan muscles.
That would be delicious*
Even better. :)
I didn’t know that’s what okara meant, pretty interesting! I liked it when my gramma made patties out of this stuff, but it’s impossible to get if there’s no tofu factory nearby. I like how you incorporate it into all these recipes, wish I had some okara right now!
I haven’t seen okara in the US – so it’s just an ingredient for us home tofu makers. Frankly, at first I thought of it as a curse, because we generated so much and I had no idea how to use it, but now I’m quite enjoying it.
Cool, glad you have such an abundant supply–enjoy!
Holy cow, JF! I hit the mother load with this post. I just added that book to my Amazon cart too.
Just today, I took a batch of the most PERFECT brownies with me to our PTA board meeting this AM. Now, I’m the weird one in the group — I drink miso soup in my thermos, pick salads from my yard for lunch, etc. — so when they saw I had brownies, they’re curiosity was piqued. They ate. They wowed. They asked me, “But aren’t you vegan?” Yup, I told them. Then I listed the ingredients for them (no butter, no eggs) and had to explain what okara is, and that led to making tofu.
Soon (like when I have more time) I will blog about these awesome okara brownies. Since we started refraining from animal products — and making our own milks and tofu at home which followed — last August, my quest for the perfect vegan brownie had begun. Out of four recipes tried since then, this one is the best. And a keeper.
Thanks for the inspiration on the soymilk maker. You really started the ball rolling! Now I’m having a hard time stopping it.
I think you’ll really enjoy the book. It’s a classic, and a real encyclopedia of all things tofu, and a perfect reference (like the Joy of Cooking for tofu makers). Really happy that the tofu/milk making has worked out for you too. With a family the size of yours, I would think that puppy has to run 24 hours a day just to keep you stocked in milk. Or does yours make more than a litre at a time?
Looking forward to seeing the brownie recipe. Think you had a “cheese”cake recipe as well – how did that turn out?
Your dishes look absolutely to die for! You have turned an ingredient that some may throw into the star ingredient!! :D
Thanks, Sophie. It took a while to get there; initially we had no idea how to use okara, and the first few experiments were far from share-worthy. But, once you get used to working with it, there’s a lot you can do with it.
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