Taizhou Soybean Skin

Taizhou Soybean Skin

　　　　Product Name: Soybean Skin

　　Product Origin: Taizhou

　　Product Ingredients: Protein, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and various vitamins.

　　Product Benefits: Sweet and mild in nature. It helps clear heat, benefit the lungs, relieve cough and dissolve phlegm, detoxify, and reduce sweating.

　　Product Introduction: Soybean skin, also called tofu skin. Li Shizhen’s *Compendium of Materia Medica* says: "The method of making tofu began during the Han Dynasty under King Liu An of Huainan. All types of black beans, soybeans, white beans, clay beans, peas, and mung beans can be used. The method involves soaking in water, grinding, filtering out the residue, boiling down the liquid, and then coagulating it using brine, alum solution, sour starch, or vinegar sediment in a pot. Another method is to collect it in a vat using gypsum powder. Generally speaking, any substance that is bitter, salty, sour, or pungent can serve to coagulate it. The layer that solidifies on the surface is skimmed off, dried, and called soybean skin." During the Qing Dynasty, soybean skin was used to make buns, with several preparation methods. First, the skin was wrapped around the filling, folded like paper into a square parcel, sealed with egg white, and steamed. Second, small pieces of skin were cut and wrapped around the filling to form a pouch, tied with hemp thread, steamed into shape, and then the thread was removed. There was also a version where diced tofu mixed with seasonings served as the filling, wrapped in dough and steamed. Judging by the name "tofu skin bun," it seems to refer to the first method rather than the second. Tofu skin buns were also considered a tribute item during the Qing Dynasty and are recorded in the imperial cuisine archives of the Qing court.