quick cheese

2 servings — 60 minutes

This is a quick, nut-free cheese recipe, that you can add onto if you want different flavors. It's simple to prepare, and ready under a few hours.

Substitutions

In this recipe we use kanten, which is similar to agar agar except that it's made from a different type of red algae (tengusa). You can swap it 1:1 in a recipe, although the resulting texture will not be the same. Adding agar agar will soften the texture.

In this recipe, it's possible to replace 240 ml of soy milk with 240 ml of water instead, this will result in a cheese that is less creamy and less filling. We like to add turmeric to make it yellow, but it's totally optional.

It is also possible to the omit sunflower seeds, using mostly plant milk will still give good results. We make it this way if we forget to soak sunflower seeds. Another option, is to use soft tofu.

sunflower seeds140 g
soy milk240 ml
salt1.25 g
nutritional yeast8 g
onion powder2.5 g
apple cider vinegar5 ml
ground turmeric2.5 g
white miso5 g
arrowroot starch30 g
soy milk120 ml
kanten powder6 g

Soak 140 g (1 cup) of raw unsalted sunflower seeds in water for 2 hours, or overnight.
Drain and rinse sunflower seeds, and blend with 240 ml (1 cup) of unsweetened soy milk (or water), 1.25 g (1/4 tsp) of salt, 8 g (2 tbsp) of nutritional yeast, 2.5 g (1/2 tsp) of onion powder, 5 ml (1 tsp) of apple cider vinegar, 2.5 g (1/2 tsp) of ground turmeric and 5 g (1 tsp) of white miso.
In a small bowl, dissolve 30 g (2 tbsp) of arrowroot starch (or 30 g of tapioca starch) with 30 ml (2 tbsp) of water. Keep aside.
Heat a saucepan at medium heat, pour 120 ml (1/2 cup) of unsweetened soy milk (or water) and sprinkle 6 g (~1 tbsp) of kanten powder (or equal amount of agar agar powder). Stir well.
When content starts to boil, lower to a simmer and pour the sunflower cheese mix into it. Stir, for 1-2 minutes, then add the arrowroot starch mix. Continue whisking until mixture is thick and shiny. Pour contents of pan into container of choice (I like to use 2 small bowls).
Let mixture rest for 2 hours.
Flip bowls upside down, scoop out cheese and enjoy! Grate the cheese onto pizza, too!