Okara

Okara can have several meanings:

Okara, Pakistan

Okara (Punjabi, Urdu: اوكاڑا‎), is the capital city of Okara District in the Punjab province of Pakistan.Okara is also known as Mini Lahore. The name Okara is derived from Okaan, the name of a type of tree. The city is located southwest of the city of Lahore and Faisalabad is 100 km by passing away Ravi River. It is famous for its agriculture-based economy and cotton mills. The nearest major city to Okara is Sahiwal,formerly known as Montgomery.

Okara has the largest storage capacity in Asia and is a fairly large district in Pakistan in terms of population. There are famous Pakistan military dairy farms, especially famous for their cheese, situated in Okara. These farms were established before the independence of Pakistan in 1947. Mitchels farms also are located in the nearest town, Renala Khurd, in the Okara District. Okara's postal code is 56300..

History

Okara (food)

Okara, soy pulp, or tofu dreg is a pulp consisting of insoluble parts of the soybean which remains after pureed soybeans are filtered in the production of soy milk and tofu. It is generally white or yellowish in color. It is part of the traditional cuisines of Japan, Korea, and China, and since the 20th century has also been used in the vegetarian cuisines of Western nations.

Okara is the oldest of three basic types of soy fiber. The other two are soy bran (finely ground soybean hulls), and soy cotyledon/isolate fiber (the fiber that remains after making isolated soy protein, also called "soy protein isolate").

Production

Okara is a food by-product from tofu and soy milk production. In 1983 it was estimated that the annual yield for okara in Japan was approximately 70,000 metric tons.

Due to its high moisture and nutrient content, okara is highly prone to putrefaction, and this has limited its commercial use.

Composition

Okara that is firmly packed consists of 3.5 to 4.0% protein, 76 to 80% moisture and 20 to 24% of solids. When moisture free, okara contains 8 to 15% fats, 12 to 14.5% crude fiber and 24% protein, and contains 17% of the protein from the source soybeans. It also contains potassium, calcium, niacin.