yuba

there are a lot of small, irritating things that happen everyday, that you often just put up with. our oven (of the small, electric variety) wasn't the most expensive in the shop and so every morning when I heat my soy milk, the oven does its poor calculation of weight and zapps it to burning point. occaisionally if I'm concious enough I'll stop it 30 seconds early. anyway - the point I'm getting to is found in the unwanted comedy moustache you get when you drink it and the milk skin attaches to your top lip. or worse - you actually drink it.......

which brings me to yuba - the skin you get when you make tofu: the drained excess becomes soy milk and the skin becomes yuba. it's a hell of a versatile food, the old soy bean. but yuba's not what you'd really call a staple food - it's often a fragile thing but I think it is sometimes used to wrap dim sum, which makes it seem at least a bit more common. I ate it for the first time proper last year when I had raw chicken wrapped in it. it was fresh and clean but I wouldn't have eaten that in any other country.

whilst on the theme, Inarizushi is rice in a similar but deep fried tofu skin pocket (abura-age). it's good for cycling with lots of protein in from the soy and carbs from the rice, and crucially, it's sweet.

if only it was enough to make the thought of skin on your coffee in the morning, something enjoyable. maybe now I'll get around to reprogramming my oven.....