Yuba Gotta Be Kiddin' Me

So I was avoiding work this afternoon, as per usual, and came across an interesting Epicurious article on San Francisco chef Daniel Patterson. Like other high-falooting chefs, he is strictly seasonal and only uses the freshest ingredients from his local farmer's market, which is cool. If we had a decent one where I lived I'd do more of that (of course, Hubby would probably freak out because I'd not only never be home, but we'd be perpetually in the hole, LOL). But anyway.

One part of this article introduces the reader to yuba, or soy skin (now *that's* enticing...), which is a by-product of heated soy milk. It's said to have a nutty taste and, like all soy products, I'm sure is quite the healthy food. It actually sounded pretty interesting, and there was a site listed where one is able to purchase dried yuba.

Now of course Chef Patterson doesn't use dried yuba! Scoff! You know that is too beneath him, you silly thing. He uses the fresh kind, of course. (Weren't you paying attention earlier?) I'm guessing they skim it off the top and throw it right into a pretty little bag for him. You can have Fresh Yuba, too - yes, you can!! Epicurious says, "Visit http://www.hodosoy.com/ or e-mail info@hodosoy.com to order. The minimum order is one pound of yuba, which costs approximately $25, plus $15 for handling and $60 for shipping."

Hold on. What the faaaaaaaa??????? The shipping and handling is 3 times the price of the actual yuba? Hmmm.... Now I'm kind of a foodie but there is no way in Hail I'm going to throw down a Franklin on a pound of this stuff. This stuff must be like gold, or a transplant liver from a lifetime teetotaler for Larry Hagman, or the best grade of pot to a pot smoker. I don't smoke it so I couldn't give you the name. Actually...if you smoked pot and then ate some fresh yuba you probably would either eat that only for the rest of your life or just starve to death. Sorry, I've digressed.

So for a measly hundred bucks anyone in the free world can get their hands on *FRESH* soy skin. What a bargain....

I don't think I'll be one of them.