Tofu skin

File:Yuba driedbeancurd.jpg

Dried Beancurd skin, Also known as Yuba

Tofu skin (Chinese: 腐皮; pinyin: fǔ pí) also known as dried beancurd, or Yuba (湯葉, [ゆば] Error: {{nihongo}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 1) (help)) is a Chinese and Japanese food product made from soybeans. During the boiling of soy milk, in an open shallow pan, a film or skin composed primarily of a soy protein-lipid complex forms on the liquid surface. The films are collected and dried into yellowish sheets known as tofu skin or soy milk skin.

Tofu skin may be purchased in fresh or dried form, in the latter case, the tofu skin is rehydrated in water before use. It is often used to wrap dim sum.

Due to it slightly rubbery texture, tofu skin is also manufactured in bunched, folded and wrapped forms that are used as meat substitutes in vegetarian cuisine. Tofu skins can be wrapped and then folded against itself to make doù baō (Chinese: 豆包, lit. tofu package). These are often fried to give it a firmer skin before being cooked further.

Tofu skin may also be bunched into sticks called dried beancurd stick (Chinese: 腐竹; pinyin: fǔ zhú). By bunching fresh tofu skins or rehydrated beancurd skins, then tying it tightly in cloth and stewing it, the bunched tofu skin will retain its tied shape. This bunched tofu skin is then called tofu chicken (Chinese: 豆雞; pinyin: doù jī; or Chinese: 素雞; pinyin: sù jī). If the maker of tofu chicken layers and bunches the tofu skins in a certain manner, they can imitate a piece of chicken breast with the skin on. The effect is completed by frying the "skin" side of the tofu chicken until it is crispy. If it was stuffed with vegetations, it becomes tofu duck.

Other methods include rolling the tofu skin tightly on a chopstick and steaming the tofu skin to form a log. When the log is sliced, each slice will be circular in form with a square hole in the center, which looks like old Chinese coins.

See also

• Nikkō (日光) is a famous city for Yuba in Japan.

External links

• The Daily English Show, Show 144 Sunday 24 September on YouTube