Jumping back to November again ( because I have a small backlog of posts), with mum in town, I thought I'd arrange something a bit different so we joined EDK's (Eat Drink Kyoto) wonderful Yuba lunch tour.
A small group of us met Eric from EDK at Nijo station and boarded our private bus for the day.
We drove high into the mountains in Western Kyoto, admiring the autumn momiji (maple) to enjoy a most wonderful experience - a demonstration of how yuba is made in a commercial setting, albeit a small scale, family run business. More boutique yuba than anything else - which is very Kyoto of course.
Below you can see the nama yuba or fresh soy milk skin being carefully lifted in sheets from the top of the barely simmering tonyu (soy milk). Then hung for any excess liquid to drip off.
A softer, more loose style of yuba is lifted off at an earlier stage, with chopsticks and briskly mixed around to form a creamy, slightly curdy looking mass. The kumiageyuba is reported to lower blood pressure, keep you young, prevent cancer and improve concentration - that's quite the profile...
Some of the yuba is hung to dry out (see below) as a way of preserving it and making the base product more versatile.
After our tour around the small factory we dined on various forms of yuba (soy milk skin) and plenty of other delectable tidbits.
Take a look at the picture perfect setting - both the surrounding gardens and the restaurant itself....
Sashimi of rolled yuba, fish, goma dofu and nama fu. Crab tops the softer style yuba.
Yuba oke - very fresh yuba in soy milk served in a hand-crafted wooden barrel - for which the dish is named.
Fish simmered in soy, sugar and sansho then grilled
Tempura course
Rice course with excellent miso shiru make from saikyo miso and sansho
A few of my dining companions keeping dry in the afternoon rain stroll...
We were seriously well looked after - I couldn't recommend this more highly. Particularly if you are a yuba or tofu fan like I am! Keep an eye out on the EDK website for more events.
Once back at Nijo station we took a stroll to the Sanjo Shotengai (old style shopping arcade) and stopped at famous Kyoto-ite Tea master Randy Channel's cafe and tea house for a little something sweet... that half persimmon was perfect to end a light Japanese meal but a few of us were feeling a little naughty... and boy were we in heaven with the maple kinako fudge cake and affogato (this version using green tea ice cream in coffee - wow - what a combo!). I loved this little slice of heaven so much I went back a couple of weeks later and was lucky enough to meet Randy himself and get another piece of that cake - oh my. I will be adding a post soon!
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