Famous foods of Kyoto

[torakris]

I thought we had covered Kyoto.... oops!

Well..?

some links can be found here

[torakris]

yuba of course.....

[robyn]

"Of course" wasn't the first thing that came to mind when I saw the picture . Exactly what is it? Robyn

Edited March 2, 2005 by robyn (log)

[torakris]

"Of course" wasn't the first thing that came to mind when I saw the picture  .  Exactly what is it?  Robyn

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yuba is often referred to in English as tofu skin, it is the skin that is pulled off the pot of soy milk as it is being heated to make tofu.

It is also probably one of my favorite foods....

[kangarool]

yuba is often referred to in English as tofu skin, it is the skin that is pulled off the pot of soy milk as it is being heated to make tofu.

It is also probably one of my favorite foods....

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Hmm, looks good, I'd like to try it. Is there a simple way to prepare it, or at least a simply-explained way to prepare it? I've heard of it, but don't remember ever seeing it on offer at any of the restaurants I go to. I'm also curious as to how it's purchased; I presume fresh/refrigerated, like tofu?

AND I'm curious if there's any reason why it's unique to or "claimed" by Kyoto...?

thanks for the pic and introduction! kanga

[Kiem Hwa]

Green tea and sweets? (O-cha & Wagashi?)

In Kyoto, I noticed there were a large amount of tea shops which had green tea and sweets as thier specialty.

We tried a particularly fabulous one in the Gion district, where the line for seats was down the stairs (the tea shop seating was on the second floor), out the door and extended past a few stores down. We were actually pretty lucky because the line became that long after we had just eaten there (it was only down the stairs when we had to wait ).

We had a green tea parfait, o-cha, warabi-mochi, and dango.

They also had a shop downstairs seeling green tea and green-tea sweets (green tea cookies, green tea chocolates, etc).

[torakris]

yuba is often referred to in English as tofu skin, it is the skin that is pulled off the pot of soy milk as it is being heated to make tofu.

It is also probably one of my favorite foods....

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Hmm, looks good, I'd like to try it. Is there a simple way to prepare it, or at least a simply-explained way to prepare it? I've heard of it, but don't remember ever seeing it on offer at any of the restaurants I go to. I'm also curious as to how it's purchased; I presume fresh/refrigerated, like tofu?

AND I'm curious if there's any reason why it's unique to or "claimed" by Kyoto...?

thanks for the pic and introduction! kanga

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Firstly:

There are two reasons why Kyoto becomes famous for fu and yuba. One is that Kyoto is center for Buddhism where thousands of temples located. Secondly, Kyoto water is famous for its purity and thus lends good taste for fu and yuba, both of which need lots of water in making.

from here

Yuba is time consuming to prepare and is very pershiable, so it doesn't ship well. The best places to find it are a tofu shop that makes it daily.

You can make it at home, check out the soy class at eGCI

[mizducky]

I too would love some more info about yuba. I've bought dried yuba from the local 99 Ranch and tried it out in a few recipes I found on the Web, and achieved mixed results at best. I've not (yet) succeeded in finding it for purchase either fresh or frozen.

Speaking of the Buddhist influence on Kyoto food--does that include creating "mock meats" from soy products? Or is that mainly a Chinese Buddhist thing? I'd love to learn more about this, as despite my long-standing carnivore leanings I've had to drastically cut down on my animal-protein consumption due to a nasty little run-in with gout.

[torakris]

our previous thread on yuba

[robyn]

"Of course" wasn't the first thing that came to mind when I saw the picture  .  Exactly what is it?  Robyn

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yuba is often referred to in English as tofu skin, it is the skin that is pulled off the pot of soy milk as it is being heated to make tofu.

It is also probably one of my favorite foods....

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Do you have a favorite place to eat it in Kyoto? We will be staying in Osaka for 6 days - and using it as a base to see both Osaka and Kyoto.

The only restaurants we rule out are those where my husband would have to eat sitting on the floor with his legs crossed (he has a bad back - and a bad knee - and - even if I could get him into that position - I could never get him out of it ). Robyn

[sk_ward]

Yuudofu! This is probably the simplest of tofu preparations, so if the tofu isn't fresh, it will taste horrible. Along with some big pieces of tofu, there is a little bit of yuba, mitsuba and a piece of fu (the pretty leaf), all in a konbu broth. The tofu was really delicious, with so much nut flavor that you rarely (if ever) can find in regular tofu from the grocery store. I ordered a teishoku set, so along with the yuudofu, I also got a side of ganmodoki (tofu with chopped vegetables inside) with hijiki, a green bean, and daikon. Even if yuudofu were readily available to me, I probably wouldn't eat it that often because it's pretty bland. But, every now and then it's nice to eat foods in their most basic forms and it's always something that I always look forward to when I go to Kyoto!

[sk_ward]

I thought about posting this in the wagashi thread, but since I have never seen this outside of Kyoto, I figured that it belongs here. This is called ajyarimochi. It looks sort of dorayaki-like, with anko inside, but the outside has a really interesting texture. It's really soft, thin and is actually kind of stretchy. It reminded me a little bit of those foam mattresses that have "memory" because you can see my finger impressions still formed on the outside. But of course, it was much tastier than a foam mattress!!! I actually got this free at a tasting booth in an exhibition hall, but I liked it so much that I wanted to buy more. However, I never saw any anywhere again! I kept the wrapper and I know that they have a store somewhere, so the next time I'm in Kyoto, I will be on a mission to find myself some more!

[peony]

these are well-known in Kyoto, however I don't know what they are called...can anyone know the name to these snacks ?

[sanrensho]

these are well-known in Kyoto, however I don't know what they are called...can anyone know the name to these snacks ?

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They're called nama yatsuhashi. Love the things, haven't had them in years.

EDITED: Left out the "nama" part.

Edited October 27, 2006 by sanrensho (log)

[Hiroyuki]

If you simply say, "Yatsuhashi, please" (not nama yatsuhashi), you will get dried, hard ones.

[prasantrin]

I thought about posting this in the wagashi thread, but since I have never seen this outside of Kyoto, I figured that it belongs here.  This is called ajyarimochi.  It looks sort of dorayaki-like, with anko inside, but the outside has a really interesting texture.  It's really soft, thin and is actually kind of stretchy.  It reminded me a little bit of those foam mattresses that have "memory" because you can see my finger impressions still formed on the outside.  But of course, it was much tastier than a foam mattress!!!  I actually got this free at a tasting booth in an exhibition hall, but I liked it so much that I wanted to buy more.  However, I never saw any anywhere again!  I kept the wrapper and I know that they have a store somewhere, so the next time I'm in Kyoto, I will be on a mission to find myself some more! 

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I love those! I just had some again recently (we get a lot of food gifts in our department). The stretchiness is due to mochi. I can't remember if the mochi part of the outside part, or if it's a separate thin layer between the outside and the inside.

I'm due for a trip to Kyoto soon (need to get my hair cut!). If you want I can find some for you and ship it on up. Takkyubin is my friend!

[SuzySushi]

Yum!!! Yatsuhashi senbei (the dried ones) and nama yatsuhashi (the fresh ones) have a delicate cinnamon flavor. THIS is one maker, and you can see photos of some of the many varieties. The dried ones look like curved roof tiles.

Another famous Kyoto product is shichimi togarashi, a spice powder containing chiles, especially from Shichimi-ya, the 350-year-old spice shop on the way to Kiyomizu-dera.

[sk_ward]

I bought a pack of yatsuhashi with both cinnamon and matcha flavors. Are they curved like this to look like a bridge (hashi)? They are very crunchy, but after a few seconds in your mouth they become soft and the matcha and cinnamon flavors really come out. I loved both flavors!

[helenjp]

I remember that you used to be able to buy cheap bags of broken yatsuhashi somewhere along the Philosopher's Walk. It was pleasant to dawdle away an afternoon, walking and chatting and munching. I don't know if you can still buy broken ones.

[Gilb3rt]

yuba of course.....

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I'm sorry but how come, when i make Tofu it dosent skin at all?

[kinkistyle]

I'm sorry but how come, when i make Tofu it dosent skin at all?

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Making tofu is different from making yuba.

Yuba is made simply by bringing soy milk to close to boiling but not boiling or else it will curdle and seperate, (using a double-boiler or bain marie). This will form a film on the surface of the soy milk in a process called the "Ramsden Effect". The same thing happens with regular cow's milk when you heat it as well. Basically what happens is the proteins in the milk will denature and congeal when heated and rise to the top where it dries out and hardens.

So essentially you can make "yuba" with cow's milk too. Cool eh?

You then use a chopstick to scoop off the membrane and that is nama yuba.

[peony]

thanks sanrensho and Hiroyuki

I love eating these while I was in Kyoto last month ( sept ) but didnt know what they are called as I can't speak nor understand Japanese.