Family Makes Yanbian Water Tofu (tsodibi) ^{CEFR B2}

On 28 December 2025 a visitor travelled to Helan village in Yanbian to meet the family of Lee YJ and join them in making tsodibi, the Yanbian-style water tofu (known as sundubu in standard South Korean). The family had first been introduced to readers on Global Voices in May, and on this day they invited the visitor to take part in a communal cooking ritual.

The process spans more than a day. Soybeans are soaked overnight and then ground into a thick paste; grinding twice is important because the first pass is coarse and the second produces a creamier texture. Hot water is added to loosen the paste before straining. Straining occurs in two stages: the paste is put into a cloth bag and pressed to remove the soybase, then the liquid is poured through a finer-meshed bag for a second strain. The work is strenuous and many of the women who worked that day were over seventy.

• The liquid is heated in a large pot over a traditional furnace that also serves as floor heating.
• Before boiling, the soybase is taken off the heat and foam is skimmed.
• Bittern, a coagulant, is added; snowy white curds form and a tofu skin appears on the surface.

Curds are ladled into a square, cloth-lined box and pressed into a solid block. Lee YN, the youngest sister, said, “We have a modern kitchen, too, but we don’t use it much.” Lee’s brother, CS, lit the furnace while women prepared side dishes on the iron plate, mainly fried kimchi made from various wild plants. The tofu is served lightly seasoned with a soy sauce mixture of chopped onion, garlic and chilli. The family preserved some tofu for later, and the ritual reinforced ties among relatives; one elder noted that modern equipment does not produce the same result as this traditional method.