Appreciate how the soybeans changed shape and drain off the soaking water
With the soybeans in a big pot, add 12 cups of water. Use a hand blender and blend for 5 - 10 minutes until you get a smooth slurry (see video below!)
Make sure you don't burn out your blender, let it rest if need be. We literally put it in the fridge for 10 minutes!
Line the sieve with your cheesecloth and place over another large pot. Pour about 1 - 2 cups of the soya bean slurry into the cheesecloth. Squeeze well to get all the liquid into the other pot. Reserve what remains in the cheesecloth in a big bowl for later. Keep doing this until you are done with all the soya bean slurry.
Add another 6 cups of water to the bowl with the remains, stir well and go through the same process as above but this time you're done with what's left in the cheesecloth, just throw it out.
Now place the empty pot (which you made your soya bean slurry in) on the stove. You are going to heat the residue in the pot until it browns. Kind of like brown butter - it adds a nice flavour to your final product. You'll know its done when it's brown and smells a bit like popcorn!
So when you're happy with the browning, pour all the sieved liquid over the browned bits and mix well. Bring this pot to a boil, mixing often and watching continuously because it may very suddenly boil over and is terrible to clean off the stove. Consider yourself warned!
Once it boils, take it off the heat and re-sieve it through the cheesecloth into the other pot you set aside. This will get rid of any clumps and make sure you get a nice smooth consistency.
You are going to bring this just to the boil again (watch closely!) and add sugar. We added about 3/4 cup of white sugar to the 4 liters but you can definitely adjust accordingly. that was just our preference!
