Ueda Yuba Factory!

During my first week in Japan, I went to a Yuba-Factory! (上田湯葉

For those of you who aren’t Japanese, Yuba(湯葉)is a kind of food made from soybeans. The process of making it is quite simple. Basically: soy milk is being boiled and the fresh layers of skin above it are being taken away and made into different end products.

I went to the two factories with the hopes to see the process of a Japanese manufacturer in real life. While there, I could follow the whole process from putting the beans into water overnight to taking them out and into the processing machine. There they are mixed with hot water(I believe) and put into pressure. A dried soybean rest products come out at the bottom and the company gives it away for free to the local community! A clear example of lean production of not letting anything go to waste, and improving the company’s CSR and status in the community.

The soymilk is then being led through pipes to the working stations where  Yuba is being taken out, and folded into the actual Yubas different shapes! 100% handmade. When the skin has been taken away, you can fold it in your hand and hang it up for a while for the immediate moisture to disappear. You can also just put in through a bamboo stick and then hang it to try and become a snack. A third version is to take the skin and put it in a plastic bag for cooldown. I learned that they also make Tofu, soy milk, and other products as well.

I thank my friends of the Ueda family for taking me here!

Hompage: Ueda Yuba Co. Ldt. They also have a couple of restaurants specialized in Yuba in Kyoto.

They even let me try to make some myself! 🙂