Creamy Sesame Noodles With Yuba

These vegan noodles in a creamy, soy-milk-based sauce come together in under 30 minutes for a comforting throw-together meal. The sauce, which has nutty tahini, savory miso, and soy milk, is just thick enough to cling to each noodle, but it’s light enough to be full-on slurpable. Add ribbons of protein-packed yuba (tofu skin) on top and you’ve got a nourishing, feel-good bowl.

Yuba, or tofu skin, is actually a by-product of the tofu-making process—when large vats of soy milk are heated for making tofu, the soy proteins coagulate to form a delicate skin that rises to the milk’s surface and gets skimmed off. The resulting yuba has a mildly nutty flavor and bouncy elastic texture. Tofu skin is sold fresh or dried, but fresh yuba (such as the one by Hodo Foods) is typically sold in pliable, folded-up sheets that you can slice into “noodles,” as in this recipe, or tear up and add to soups, salads, or stir-fries. Look for fresh yuba in the refrigerated section near the tofu at Asian markets or well-stocked grocery stores. Read more about tofu skin here.