Ebiya Chozo

Nikko and Kyoto both make the skin that forms on heated soy milk, and they write it differently on purpose. Kyoto writes yuba as 湯葉, leaf, and lifts the sheet from one edge so it comes away thin. Nikko writes it 湯波, wave, and lifts it from the middle with a needle so it folds double — thicker, chewier, and a substantially different ingredient. The distinction is not pedantry; the two products behave differently in cooking.

Ebiya Chozo has been making Nikko yuba since 1872 and is generally regarded as the original house. Most of what it produces goes wholesale to the yuba restaurants around the shrines, so the quantity available over the counter is small and regulars order two or three days in advance. The forms it makes — sashimi yuba, rolled agemaki, shinomaki, flat and Shimada styles — are the range the temple kitchens use, and buying directly from the maker rather than eating it in a set menu is a different and cheaper way to meet it.