Tofu skin lifted from boiling soymilk, served as sashimi, rolled in dashi or wrapped around vegetables. A Kyoto Higashiyama specialty since the 1600s.
Where to eat it: 5 restaurants across 1 city.
Yuba arrived in Kyoto from Song China in the 12th century with the same Buddhist monks who introduced matcha and shojin-ryori. The Higashiyama tofu houses around Nanzen-ji codified yuba-making, lifting the surface skin off heated soymilk one sheet at a time. The dish anchors every shojin-ryori menu in the city; fresh yuba sashimi (eaten with soy and a touch of wasabi) and yuba rolls in dashi are the two canonical preparations. Sohonke Yudofu Okutan has served yuba since 1635.
Common allergens: Soy
Tip from the editors. The lower the heat, the better the skin; 80C is the sweet spot, boiling soymilk gives you a cloud, not a sheet.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
A long-running garden-side yudofu room beside Nanzen-ji, set on a 1,200-tsubo strolling-garden plot in Kyoto that changes with every season.
Signature: Yudofu, Yuba, Tofu kaiseki
Order: Yudofu Gozen course with simmered Kyoto vegetables and tempura
Tip: Book the garden-side tatami pavilion; walk-ins are turned away in foliage season.
A Nishijin yudofu room set in a former silk-warehouse machiya, opened in the 1970s. Quiet, courtyard-view tatami; locals know the Matsu Gozen set.
Signature: Yudofu, Yuba, Matsu Gozen set
Order: Matsu Gozen set: yudofu, yuba-sashimi and seasonal Kyo-yasai
Tip: Closed Mondays and Thursdays. Two-minute walk from the Omiya Nakauri bus stop.
Tofu-kaiseki on a Kamogawa riverside terrace, hidden down a narrow Kiyamachi alley in a preserved Taisho-era townhouse just steps from Pontocho.
Signature: Tofu kaiseki, Yuba sashimi, Yu-dofu
Order: Eight-course tofu kaiseki with yuba sashimi and warmed soy-milk pots
Tip: Book a tatami room on the riverside for kawayuka decking from mid-May to September.
Bib Gourmand-listed shojin-ryori inside Tenryu-ji's precinct in Arashiyama. Three-course set lunches eaten facing the temple's Sogen garden.
Signature: Shojin-ryori bento, Yuba, Sesame tofu
Order: Yuki shojin set with the temple's signature sesame tofu
Tip: Reservation required for parties of two or more, at least three days ahead. The ¥500 garden entry is separate.
Fu Ka's yuba and fu skewer stand at Nishiki Market in Kyoto. Soybean-skin and wheat-gluten skewers in dashi, gluten-free yuba options at the same counter.
Try: Yuba and fu skewers
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