Mahanandi

Living in Consciousness ~ Indi(r)a’s Food and Garden Weblog

Soymilk Skin (Fresh Yuba) ~ Savory & Sweet


Fresh Soymilk Skin (Fresh Yuba, Uba, Bean Curd Skin, Fuzhu, Foo Pi)

Few months ago, after much hesitation I dared and prepared soy milk at home. The milk was alright, but what I liked most was the skins that would form while boiling soymilk. Do you remember from India, when you boil cows/buffalo’s milk, a thick layer of skin would form on top of boiled milk. You can just lift the layer and eat – Milk meegada or malai, do you remember the taste? Mildly sweet and irresistible because of limited amount. Same thing here with soymilk.

Soymilk skins are much thicker, almost like samosa/wonton wraps. They taste sweet and have a distinct soy smell. What I gathered from the web is that Japanese call this soymilk skin “Yuba” and they are an expensive delicacy. Famously and religiously prepared by Buddhist Monks and used in several Buddhist recipes for its protein richness.

I wanted to try an Indianised yuba recipes and prepared two entries with soymilk skins. A savory and a sweet – Yuba:Potato Curry Rounds and Soymilk Halwa. As entries to IMBB+SHF ~ Soy, hosted by Reid of Ono Kine Grindz. Started the whole process first by preparing fresh soymilk. And then boiled the milk for about an hour. Constantly picking up the milk skins with a chopstick. I wrapped these milk skins around the potato curry and sauteed them for few minutes. With leftover soymilk skins and soymilk, I prepared halwa by adding sugar, finely chopped dates and freshly grated coconut. Simmered the whole thing until it came together like pala kova. Removed to a box and kept it in the freezer to make the halwa little bit firm.

Both the yuba-potato rounds and soymilk halwa tasted superb. Time consuming but worth my effort and I am glad that I tried this ancient classic Buddhist delicacy.

Here is the whole process in images. Enjoy!


Boiling homemade soymilk to pickup soymilk skins (Yuba, Milk Meegada)


Wrapping Potato curry in soymilk skins (Yuba, Milk Meegada)


Sauteing the Soymilk skin (yuba) wrapped potato curry rounds on low heat


Golden colored yuba-potato curry rounds – in closeup


Yuba-Potato Curry Round in fresh soymilk skin (soy paala meegada) with red chilli-garlic powder as garnish


Soymilk Halwa with dates and fresh coconut


More about YubaHere and from Egullet
Yuba making – in images
Tags: +

Posted by Indira©Copyrighted in Dates (kharjuram),Potato,Soy (Tofu, Yuba),Sugar (Friday June 23, 2006 at 9:33 am- permalink)
Comments (49)

The New Home of Mahanandi: www.themahanandi.org

49 comments for Soymilk Skin (Fresh Yuba) ~ Savory & Sweet »

  1. What a nice idea, i have tasted Chinese Yuba noodles, knew it is a made from a biproduct of tofu making,now i know the what it really is. Thank you
    Archana

    Comment by Archana — June 23, 2006 @ 10:11 am

  2. The story goes that Prince Siddhartha visited Indira of Mahanandi’s house one fine morning. He took a bite of the sweet and the bite of the savoury and realized the key to the puzzle of the mystery of existence: equanimity in sweetness as well as in spice . And in that instant he attained nirvana.

    Buddham sharanam gachami:)

    Comment by Janani — June 23, 2006 @ 10:16 am

  3. Very creative indeed! Mighty impressed.

    Faffer

    Comment by Faffer — June 23, 2006 @ 10:21 am

  4. I heard about soba noodles, but yuba noodles, that’s new to me. Thanks for the info, Archana.

    Janani: . 🙂
    Dharmam Sharanam Gacchami
    Sangham Sharanam Gacchami
    I don’t know about Prince Siddhartha, but I did reach nirvana point after preparing these. 🙂
    I can understand now, why they are expensive and a delicacy. To prepare them daily, one needs Buddhist monk kind of patience. 🙂

    Thanks Faffer.

    Comment by Indira — June 23, 2006 @ 10:26 am

  5. Amazing creativity!!!Kudos!!!

    Comment by BDSN — June 23, 2006 @ 10:34 am

  6. Wonderful innovativeness in the kitchen Indira garu. I am a huge fan of Soymilk. Will make an effort to try ur recipe. I am amazed that the soymilk skins are so firm like sheets.

    Comment by Priya — June 23, 2006 @ 10:56 am

  7. Very creative and innovative. Beautiful 🙂

    Comment by Revathi — June 23, 2006 @ 11:07 am

  8. Oh! I love yuba!

    The best part of my Unturkey? The yuba skin.

    I’m definitely showing this recipe to Matt; we may just have to try it.

    Thanks, Indira!

    Comment by Stephanie — June 23, 2006 @ 12:49 pm

  9. never heard of Yuba before Indira.Thanks a lot for sharing this recipe!

    Comment by Sumitha — June 23, 2006 @ 12:54 pm

  10. Yuba is new to me. Thanks for sharing.

    Comment by shilpa — June 23, 2006 @ 1:44 pm

  11. Man! You are a treasure!! 🙂

    Comment by RP — June 23, 2006 @ 2:17 pm

  12. Speechless ! Have heard of Yuba but never thought it can be made into something this delicious. How creative you are.

    Comment by Krithika — June 23, 2006 @ 2:19 pm

  13. Wow …. Amazing information… I love meghada to this day, tho with 1% u barely get any ;-)now.

    Comment by Anu — June 23, 2006 @ 2:57 pm

  14. See last time I commented about your patience and you said no more flattery from me accepted but how can I shut my mouth now!!!….This can only come from Indira – such time consuming recipes. No more flattery words but I guess you know what I have to say right 🙂
    Btw this week was “Mahanandi” week at my house. I tried Dum aloo with baby potatoes and Mint pulao recipes. Both were just great. And for mint pulao it seems hubby got lot of praise from his colleagues. So here’s passing all those good words 🙂 Thanks for sharing such wonderful recipes Indira

    Comment by Kerala Girl — June 23, 2006 @ 3:11 pm

  15. —————————————-
    (This means that I am speechless. I really am. Hats off!)

    Comment by Vaishali — June 23, 2006 @ 4:11 pm

  16. I am totally speechless!! Awesome!

    Comment by sowmya — June 23, 2006 @ 4:11 pm

  17. Both the dishes look amazing. I would love to try the potato dumplings. I think these two dishes alone are worth the effort of making soy milk.

    Comment by mika — June 23, 2006 @ 4:33 pm

  18. First time hearing of yuba. The end results look delicious. Great entries. How much time does the whole process take.

    Comment by Gini — June 23, 2006 @ 5:14 pm

  19. mmm…..the skins look good…did they turn crispy after you sauteed them?

    Comment by Nabeela — June 23, 2006 @ 5:36 pm

  20. Wheeee!!!!

    Comment by L.G — June 23, 2006 @ 5:57 pm

  21. Hello Indira,

    Recently by luck I came across your website and I am really stunned looking at the pictures and all the efforts you put into cooking such mouth-watering dishes and sharing them with all of us. Great work!!!
    About this yuba – Is it same as bean curd?
    Thanks for the great recipes.

    Comment by SK — June 23, 2006 @ 7:30 pm

  22. Ah, Indira… no wonder you were on blogging break! This must have been time-consuming indeed. Very innovative and as usual, looks as lovely as I am sure it tastes. Thanks for sharing your creative energies 🙂

    Comment by Linda — June 23, 2006 @ 11:21 pm

  23. What can I say except that I am speechless..

    What amazing amounts of patience U have Indira.
    Its just Fantastic

    Comment by santhi — June 24, 2006 @ 3:06 am

  24. Indira,
    I particularly like the soy dessert (as I have sweet tooth!)! Your soymilk silk (same as beancurd skin right??) looks melt-in-the-mouth! I’m afraid I couldn’t wait and just popped it in my mouth right away!
    I saw “fresh beancurd skin” in frozen (oh well…) section in asian grocery stores, they’re big piece (B4 size). I never try but heard salt is added in order to preserve it. Really nothing can compare with your home-made!
    btw, thanks for your further advise on the bell pepper chutney 🙂

    Comment by gattina — June 24, 2006 @ 5:46 am

  25. WOW (ending with a wide-opened mouth)!!

    That is all I can say! I am speachless to see the extent of your creativity and patience.

    Comment by Aparna T — June 24, 2006 @ 1:32 pm

  26. Indira, you need to start cooking classes for small groups *in your kitchen*. Seriously. You have the tools, you have the spices, you have the inclination, you have the talent. I am sure you will have a very long waiting list. Think about it. 🙂

    Comment by Manisha — June 24, 2006 @ 4:04 pm

  27. You all made me speechless. 🙂 Thanks all for your comments.

    Stephanie: Thanks. Me too, I like these soymilk skins. I am sure Matt would know a lot more about ‘yuba’, than me.

    Hi Kerala Girl: Too much praise is not good for anyone’s health. So the request. :)Thanks for honoring my request!
    I am glad you tried and liked aloo dum and pudina pulao. Appreciate you letting me know.

    Gini: Thanks. About 3 hours.
    1. To grind and prepare soymilk. 2. Boiling soymilk to pickup soymilk skins 3. To prepare halwa. One hour each step.

    Nabeela: Yep, the skin is soft at first, and turned crispy after few minutes of saute.

    SK: Thanks.
    These are also called beancurd skins.

    Gattina: Thanks! When I was looking for the information on Yuba, I found out that some Asian grocery shops sell readymade both fresh and dried out yuba skins. I didn’t know that before. Yep, same as beancurd skin.

    Aparna T : Thanks!:)

    Manisha: You are too kind.:) Thanks!

    Comment by Indira — June 24, 2006 @ 4:15 pm

  28. Indira ma’m, Are you taking constant back up of your blog? :)As RP said..its a treasure indeed !!

    Comment by Aparna — June 25, 2006 @ 3:04 am

  29. Adbhutam!
    They say, when great cooks take over, it all looks like a beautiful painting in the end. Indeed.

    Will you employ me as your official taster, please please. Iam very good at that :D, believe me. (Iam sure there will be huge competition)

    Comment by Vidyanath Tirumala P — June 25, 2006 @ 4:21 pm

  30. Thanx indeed for introducing Yuba…I never knew about it…and kudos to your culinary experiments!

    Comment by Shynee — June 26, 2006 @ 3:26 am

  31. Hi Indira,
    I am currently traveling in China and two days ago I had something that resembled yuba noodles (didn’t know that then). Due to language problems, I was just told that it was bean curd. The dish was very simply made by sauteing thinly sliced red pepper, seasoned with salt and chili powder. I thought the bean curd was slightly on chewy side, but very tasty. When I saw your first soy milk meegada picture, I realized thats what I ate.
    Thank you for the information and detailed pics.
    Best
    Pavani

    Indira replies:
    Travelling in China. How exciting that must be!
    I hope you are taking lot of pictures. You must share them with us on your blog.
    I read about the veggie dilemma at your blog. Now, you can order one pure veggie dish without hesitation, right? 🙂 Glad to be of help, Pavani.
    Stay well and have lots of fun.

    Comment by Pavani — June 26, 2006 @ 5:19 am

  32. Hi Indra
    Your professional looking pictures make your blog stand out.
    I can see you love soy and we do too. My husband and me did a lot of soy intake since we are vegetarians and wanted to do the high protien diet until we read an article similar to this.
    http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art14831.asp
    This theory is undisputed and we cut down our soy intake drastically after that. Just wanted to share this info with all the ladies who are regular visitors on your blog.
    Keep up your enthusiasm.

    Comment by Lakshmi — June 26, 2006 @ 12:54 pm

  33. Looks terrific. I wish someone would make them for me 🙂

    Indira replies:
    I’d love to prepare that for you, Tilo. Come visit anytime. 🙂

    Comment by tilo — June 26, 2006 @ 9:15 pm

  34. WOW INDIRA.

    Your recipes are really great.
    Good patience to cook like this kind of recipes.
    Soy halwa.yum.How to prepare.
    Thanks.

    Comment by lakshmi — June 30, 2006 @ 7:29 am

  35. I’m usually happy with simple preparations of yuba; if we make it at home, we just dip it in seasoned soy sauce or yuzu-kosho (somewhat salted yuzu rind and chilies) similar, eating as soon as the skins form in the pot. But a stuffed yuba, slightly crisped up from deep- or pan-frying, must be very nice. A lot of the chinese yuba dishes I’ve had were made similarly.

    One Chinese vegetarian restarateur I know simply seasoned yuba with minced lemongrass and chilies, and used it as a simple side dish for nibbling or incorporated it into noodle dishes or soups.

    Comment by Jason Truesdell — July 5, 2006 @ 3:05 am

  36. Hi Indira – I love yuba and you’ve made me homesick 🙂 I can almost smell the lovely dishes, great post!

    Comment by keiko — July 5, 2006 @ 7:38 am

  37. Great dishes! I also used yuba but dried ones for my dessert.

    Comment by boo_licious — July 7, 2006 @ 5:40 pm

  38. I love to make soy halwa . recipe please.

    Comment by Radha — July 9, 2006 @ 7:59 pm

  39. Can you give me advice on picking up the skin without having it stick to itself? I am thinking of fabricating a beancurd skin lifter to solve this problem for myself, but if there is a simple technique that works for me, I’ll use it instead.

    Indira replies:
    Hi Diana, you’ve to simmer the soya milk for long for skins that won’t stick/tear on lifting. I’ve used two chopsticks to lift the skins. Lift from the center with two chopsticks and while lifting increase the space between two chopsticks so that the layer would comeoff as a single layer without sticking and becoming double layer. You have to be quick though, and also place the layer on a clean flat surface like on a big cutting board and smooth out the edges gently with hand, without making any tears on it. Again this works when you have a thick, (almost wontonwrap thickness) soy milk skins. For that, you really have to simmer the soy milk for long. For one skin, atleast 15 to 20 minutes of simmering, without disturbing the milk on low heat.
    Hope this helps.

    Comment by Diana — January 7, 2007 @ 11:40 pm

  40. i want to learn how to make beancurd and beancurd sheet

    Comment by donald chee — March 7, 2007 @ 8:13 pm

  41. Hi- was surfing the net on how to make tofu and landed on this site- must say it is very interesting and that there are so many Indian recipes, will def try them out.
    Question- how does one make soya milk and is a tofu press available in India?
    thanks again

    Comment by Bina — May 18, 2007 @ 1:24 am

  42. WOW! It did work. It is a very slow process, but you can make Yuba while watching your favorite TV program. I was doing it as a fun experiment. I used Silk brand unsweetened plain soymilk and pour about 2 cups into a small saucepan. I cooked the soymilk over medium heat just until it was coming to a boil and lower the heat to a fairly low temperature. Allow the soymilk to cook UNDISTURBED for about 8 to 10 minutes (don’t even move the pot around). You will notice a skin forming on the top surface of the soymilk, like scalding milk. When a good amound of skin is formed on the top surface, using a chopstick, quickly scoop it up from the center and place it into a bowl of cold water. Then walk away from the milk for another 8 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, with the first sheet of Yuba placed in cold water, gently spread the Yuba skin out and place it on a plate. The cold water keeps it from shrievling to a mass. It was a fun experiment. Being asian, I see these sheets in dry form and fresh frozen form. They are inexpensive and is used in many dishes, i.e., soups, congee (rice porridge), dim sum, main dishes, etc. A japanese cookbook says to just dip in soy sauce and wasabi and dip and eat. I never knoew this is how it was made. Very interesting. What I experiment today is exactly like the fresh frozen sheets purchased in asian stores.

    Congrats Della. That is exactly how I made the fresh yuba at home. It’s a slow process but the end result is really worth the effort and time. Glad that you tried it as well.
    Did you make any special dish with fresh yuba, or enjoyed it by itself?
    – Indira

    Comment by Della — October 25, 2007 @ 1:46 pm

  43. Continuation from No. 42 comment…

    Oh, I see now. On No. 39 above, there is a simplier method in picking up the skin. And cooking it 5 minutes longer than my cooking time may be better.

    I still say this is a fun experiment for for anyone to try because it does work. It’s as fun as making butter from shaking whipping cream until it forms butter.

    🙂

    Comment by Della — October 25, 2007 @ 1:55 pm

  44. I just made yuba by itself tonight, starting with dried, organic soybeans. The first time I enjoyed it as part of a kaiseki ryori experience in Tokyo, and I had it many times afterwards but I never made it at home until tonight. Absolutely delicious! I made a sweet mirin sauce with honey to accompany it, but would definitely love to try it as a wrapper in the future. Thank you for the gorgeous photos and clear directions.

    -Sea

    Hello Sea, I am happy to read that you tried and liked this recipe. Thank you for taking time to let me know. Yuba with sweet mirin sauce sounds wonderful.
    -Indira

    Comment by Seamaiden — February 19, 2008 @ 9:16 pm

  45. Hi there! I try make the yuba last night folow your step but is not working….pls advise what was when wrong? How long do I have to bil the soymilk? Is simmer or high heat? The surface doesn’t form a thick layer yuba like yours. Only very thin and small if I pick it up bu chopstick it will break. Pls advise…thanks a million
    jiun

    Comment by Jiun — October 12, 2008 @ 9:35 pm

  46. Thank you for this beautiful recipe!!

    Comment by Sunshinemom — October 25, 2008 @ 9:25 pm

  47. […] How To Make Bean Curd Sheets And Sticks? Take a look at : http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi/?p=501 […]

    Pingback by How To Make Bean Curd Sheets And Sticks? | b2b b2c infomations — October 28, 2010 @ 5:21 pm

  48. Thanks for this article. I really hope you post more articles soon, I will definataly share this.

    Comment by Rehoboth Beach — August 16, 2011 @ 3:32 am

  49. I like your creative instincts,I would love to cook up something akin,if it will come up well I will comeback to blow my horns.

    Comment by prathith shetty — September 10, 2014 @ 8:06 pm

Your Comment

(required)

(required but not published)

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

It sounds like SK2 has recently been updated on this blog. But not fully configured. You MUST visit Spam Karma's admin page at least once before letting it filter your comments (chaos may ensue otherwise).