Making yuba and tofu

[mudbug]

You can cut them up and add them to soup. They act much like a noodle thru this method.

[torakris]

I just had some incredibly fresh yuba the other night, ate it very simply with a little bit of soy and some yuzu-koshou (paste of green chiles and yuzu)....

[Hiroyuki]

I had made an inquiry to a tofu maker located in Katsushika Ward, Tokyo, who kindly gave me a reply the other day.

He dared not speak of how to make yose-dofu, because he says, "There are a variety of ideas of yose (literally, "bringing together") and "It will take a very long time to give you an accurate answer."

Instead, he recommended Mame Hyaku (豆100) of Taishi (タイシ)

http://www.taishi-food.co.jp/

He says, "It tastes fairly good for a big company" and "I once tried it, and it gathered together well (turned into good yose-dofu)."

I accessed the site and found the product very good and impressive. So, I'd like to recommend it here although I have never tasted it before.

One bottle of Mame Hyaku contains 500 ml of soy milk, and comes with a pack of 6-ml nigari, which is enough to turn the soy milk into tofu. A 350-ml bottle is also available, but does not come with a nigari pack.

A box of six 500-ml bottles costs 2,100 yen including the shipping charge and the consumption tax.

But even more impressive are the various soy products produced by that tofu maker himself. His name is Hiroyuki Arai (新井弘幸), coincidentally the same last name as mine (same Chinese characters too). His store, Saitamaya (埼玉屋), is located in Katsushika Ward (葛飾区) in Tokyo.

http://saitamaya.net

If you read this site, I'm sure you will find him a very interesting and diligent man.

I guess most of you don't read Japanese, so here I post an English article of a Toyota magazine covering Saitamaya:

http://saitamaya.net/toyotaindex1.htm

(Click on the photo of the article, and a larger photo appears. Click on the icon that appears at the lower right corner, and the photo will get even larger.)

The next time I visit Tokyo, I really would like to go to his store.

お返事ありがとうございました、新井さん。いつか、お店に寄りたいと思います。

Thank you very much, Arai-san, for your reply. I'd like to drop by your store some day.

***

Additional information (which I learned from a reply from Taishi):

This soy milk product, Mame Hyaku, is a "whole" type (ingredients not conditioned) and pure and, therefore, it expires in eight (8) days. When delivered to you by Cool Takkyubin (truck service whereby the goods are delivered either refrigerated or frozen), the product is already two days past the date of manufacture and is suitable for drinking within five (5) days only.

[Hiroyuki]

am I using the wrong kind of tofu to make aburage ?

There is a special type of tofu for making aburage. According to one site, this type of tofu is made from soy milk two to three times thinner than that for making regular momen dofu.

[torakris]

Instead, he recommended Mame Hyaku (豆100) of Taishi (タイシ)

http://www.taishi-food.co.jp/

He says, "It tastes fairly good for a big company" and "I once tried it, and it gathered together well (turned into good yose-dofu)."

I accessed the site and found the product very good and impressive. So, I'd like to recommend it here although I have never tasted it before.

One bottle of Mame Hyaku contains 500 ml of soy milk, and comes with a pack of 6-ml nigari, which is enough to turn the soy milk into tofu. A 350-ml bottle is also available, but does not come with a nigari pack.

A box of six 500-ml bottles costs 2,100 yen including the shipping charge and the consumption tax.

I saw Mame Hyaku yesterday at my local supermarket (Tokyu Store), 500ml botles with nigari for only 178 yen. So before placing an order you might want to look in the supermarkets for this where it is half the price.

[shinju]

Greetings from California. Really enjoy reading about tofu making. I''ve been making tofu for about 2 years now and even showed a number of my relatives including some Japanese women friends of my mother how to make tofu at one setting. I first showed how to make it once and had each one make their own one by one. It was lots of fun. I purchase soy beans called Laura beans from a farmer in midwest. According to him most of his beans are exported to Japan. These beans have wonderful mild flavor and perfect for soy milk and tofu. Although I've become quite proficient in making regular tofu and yuba, I have not been successful with kinugoshitofu. It seems to never set quite right (too soft).

Fresh homemade tofu still warm is so wonderful - I love to eat it with a bit of umeboshi paste mixed with shoyu and nothing more.

[shinju]

I see that you have made tofu and if you can make tofu, you can certainly make your own yuba. It's not hard to make although first few attempts will result in somewhat lopsided yuba sheets (but still tastes great). You want soy milk that is richer than the regular soy milk for making tofu. The last several sheets of yuba will be richer tasting than the first ones because the liquid becomes more concentrated as it simmers.

Fresh yuba is great with nothing more than shoyu and perhaps a squeeze of yuzu or lime.

[Hiroyuki]

Let me show you my first attempt to make yose-dofu.

First, the soy milk that I used, together with the nigari pack attached to it:

I put the soy milk in a pan, heated up, constantly stiring, and added the nigari. I stirred two or three times. The soy milk turned to tufu almost instantly (in about five seconds). This is exactly what donjou described.

I tasted the tofu, and I thought it umai (delicious). Then, I transfered the tofu in a colander with a sheet of cooking paper on top.

I ate it with some soy sauce only. Yum! (Sorry, the photo is out of focus.)

After all, was it a success or not? I don't know. See what's left in the bowl.

Some comments later.

[Hosting Team note: the images in this post are no longer available]

Edited January 19, 2010 by heidih
Add Hosting Team note about photos (log)

[danjou]

Hi Hiroyuki,

thank you for posting the wonderful pictures !!!

Now I have got to find some nigari at the loxal Japanese grocery. I cannot wait to try it myself.

Just last month, I managed to catch this Japanese cooking show on JET TV, I do not know the name of the show, as my japanese is awful, but it was hosted by a fuunny chef with a mustache and he was walking around what looked like a part of Tokyo( wearing chef's whites and a chef's toque) with his co hosts, and trying different places .

He walked into what looked like a side walk restaurant run by a woman. The woman showed a bowl of green soybeans ( ?) from which she made green soymilk. She then added nigari, and placed the resulting tofu in a steamer.

After steaming she presented the green tofu and called it "Midori Tofu "

She then placed a few scoops of this gorgeous green tofu om a large bowl of rice, and added a saucy ground meat topping and the result was an incredible looking Mabotofu donburi, using this "midori tofu, which is probably the same as the yosedofu......

They are truly doing some wonderful, truly incredible things with tofu in Japan !!!!!

Hiroyuki, how much nigari should one add ? Will it be creanier and more custard like if one increases the Nigari, or will it become hard ?

The one at that restaurant long ago looked like a creamy custard.

I am getting hungry looking at your pictures, as well as recalling that mabotofu don.

cheers

[Hiroyuki]

Hiroyuki, how much nigari should one add  ?  Will it be creanier and more custard like if one increases the Nigari, or will it become hard ?

The one at that restaurant long ago looked like a creamy custard.

Just a quick note first:

As I mentioned in a previous post, 3-g nigari powder for 1,000-ml soy milk.

BUT, if you buy a nigari bottle, no need to worry about this; I'm sure that it specifies how much of it to use with a certain amount of soy milk. Just for reference, the bottle I bought, which contains 500-ml soy milk, comes with a 6-ml nigari pack.

The hotter the soy milk (but never boil it!!) and the more the nigari, the harder the tofu. (Don't ask me more; I'm also a beginner.)

More comments later.

Edited June 16, 2004 by Hiroyuki (log)

[Hiroyuki]

The one at that restaurant long ago looked like a creamy custard.

That's something I want to ask you. I made yose-dofu yesterday too (I actually bought two bottles), and I think that yose-dofu can never be like a creamy custard. The recipe for making yose-dofu is quite similar to that for making momen-dofu. You know the texture of momen-dofu, don't you? Its texture is just like that of cottage cheese. If you want creaminess in your tofu, I think that the recipe using a microwave oven is right for you.

[torakris]

I have just picked up these dried yuba skins at a store

they only cost me 97 yen (about ($0.85) for the whole package!

[shinju]

Similar to fried founder with yuba, but another way to use yuba is simply rolling maguro with fresh yuba and slicing into about two inch slice. Also good smearing some umeboshi on yuba before rolling.

[Hiroyuki]

I haven't done an extensive search through eGullet, but do you know this convenient way to make fresh yuba? Get your electric hot plate ready!

(Is 'hot plate' correct English?)

1. Place the hot plate in keep warm mode (approx. 80 deg. centigrade (176 deg. F)), and pour soy milk to cover the plate entirely.

2. In about 4 minutes, film is formed on the surface, pick it up with a pair of chopsticks.

In about 1 minute, another film will be formed.

From here:

http://mbs.jp/hiden/magic/42.html

(Fifth frame)

My experience with yuba has been quite limited and disappointing, but I wish I could make fresh yuba, using this simple method. But I don't have a hot plate. Could anyone try this method and report on their finding?

[Pan]

I haven't done an extensive search through eGullet, but do you know this convenient way to make fresh yuba?  Get your electric hot plate ready!

(Is 'hot plate' correct English?)[...]

←

Yep!

[torakris]

I made yuba in my soy cooking class at eGCI:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=44086

the finished product

it is really very easy, just time consuming.

I don't have a hot plate....

[makimaki]

wao, this pictuire looks so nice, 'oishisou...':-0

I am very happy to found this thread, cause I am a big fun of Yuba.

While I was living in Kyoto, I used to eat Yuba almost every week, but in Tokyo, I dont think Yuba is popuplar food as well as Kyoto, cause sometimes I cant find any kinds of Yuba in shops.

Anyway, I have a hotplate, so I will try to make big sheets of Yuba, thx to Hiroyukisan to introduce the tips! :-)

If I will be able to produce Yuba as good as tosrakis san's one, I also take a picture and post here.

(but trakis san, if you dont have hot plate, how did you produce such a big amount of yuba? last time I made yuba with my small pan, I could eat only tiny piece of yuba every 8min...)

@makimaki@

[Hiroyuki]

wao, this pictuire looks so nice, 'oishisou...':-0

I am very happy to found this thread, cause I am a big fun of Yuba.

While I was living in Kyoto, I used to eat Yuba almost every week, but in Tokyo, I dont think Yuba is popuplar food as well as Kyoto, cause sometimes I cant find any kinds of Yuba in shops.

Anyway, I have a hotplate, so I will try to make big sheets of Yuba, thx to Hiroyukisan to introduce the tips! :-)

If I will be able to produce Yuba as good as tosrakis san's one, I also take a picture and post here.

(but trakis san, if you dont have hot plate, how did you produce such a big amount of yuba? last time I made yuba with my small pan, I could eat only tiny piece of yuba every 8min...)

@makimaki@

←

Thank you, makimaki! I've been waiting for someone like you!

You are absolutely right. Yuba is a Kyoto specialty; I had the first taste of it during a trip to Kyoto in my 20s.

Looking forward to your post here.

[torakris]

wao, this pictuire looks so nice, 'oishisou...':-0

(but trakis san, if you dont have hot plate, how did you produce such a big amount of yuba? last time I made yuba with my small pan, I could eat only tiny piece of yuba every 8min...)

@makimaki@

←

makimaki welcome to egullet!!

I used a small pan for my yuba, it took about 45 minutes to get that much but the taste is definitely worth the wait. The yuba sold in the supermarkets can't even compare to the taste of freshly made.

There are some more pictures of the process near the end of the eGCI class I did on soy.

eGCI SOY class

[makimaki]

Hi, minasan. ogenki desuka?

I am so sorry to take so long time since I said that I will make yuba by hotplate...I was just going to eat a lot with my friends recentlly...anyways.

Here, I finally made yuba with my round hotplate! It was way easier than make it by pan and also I could control temperature easily!

to make 1 sheet of yuba, it took 5-7min, I think.

It was great time to wait yuba coming up with nihon-syu...hehehe

I uploaded some pics for my album and set it public one, if somebody intrested, pls take a look at these.

but actually, I still don' t understand how this forum works, so I cannot put my album's address here.

I hope everybody will find it easily...

yuba-great-lover

makimaki

[Hiroyuki]

Hi, minasan. ogenki desuka?

I am so sorry to take so long time since I said that I will make yuba by hotplate...I was just going to eat a lot with my friends recentlly...anyways.

Here, I finally made yuba with my round hotplate! It was way easier than make it by pan and also I could control temperature easily!

to make 1 sheet of yuba, it took 5-7min, I think.

It was great time to wait yuba coming up with nihon-syu...hehehe 

I uploaded some pics for my album and set it public one, if somebody intrested, pls take a look at these.

but actually, I still don' t understand how this forum works, so I cannot put my album's address here.

I hope everybody will find it easily...

yuba-great-lover

makimaki

←

Awesome! You did succeed at your first attempt!? Gotta get a hot plate and try the method myself.

Thank you for sharing your photos.

[Hiroyuki]

Maybe I should PM makimaki for permission, but since they are in the public library, I think I am allowed to do this.

The thing is, they are too good to just remain there. Besides, they will become hard to find as days go by. So, here they are.

this is my cooking plate

getting hot...

oishisou, desune

its my favorite time, hehehe...

Forgot to add:

makimaki, if you want them deleted, please notify me or ask torakris for deletion.

Edited March 9, 2005 by Hiroyuki (log)

[makimaki]

Hiroyuki san, thx a lot for putting my pics to here! Of course, it's no problem at all, I just didn't know how to do that...

I also wanna tell you something, If you thinking of buying new hot plate, I reccomend the one which can keep lower temperature, cause lowest temperature of my plate is 90-100 degree, I had to turn off the switch sometimes before it gets too hot.

I think I heard 80 degree is best for Yuba, even though I am sartisfied with my plate, I hope you can find better one...;-)

enjoy the life with Yuba!!

@makimaki@

[Kiem Hwa]

I made yuba tonight! (My first time). It was so yummy...Since my BF didn't want any, I didnt have to share, so I ate them as they came off the stove

I tried it with a yuzu-shoyu sauce and a shoyu-wasabi sauce.

[merrybaker]

You want  soy milk that is richer than the regular soy milk for making tofu.

←

What is the name for that kind of soy milk?