On December 28, 2025, a visitor went to Helan village in Yanbian to meet the Lee family. The family invited the visitor to take part in making tsodibi, a Yanbian-style water tofu that is also called sundubu in South Korea.
The process takes more than a day. First, ingredients are soaked overnight and then ground into a paste. Grinding twice helps make a creamier texture. The paste is pressed in cloth bags and strained twice to separate the liquid. After heating, a coagulant is added and curds form. The curds are put into a cloth-lined box and pressed into blocks. The family served the tofu simply and saved some for later.
Difficult words
- soak — to put in liquid for some timesoaked
- grind — to break food into small pieces or pasteground, Grinding
- paste — a soft thick mixture of ground ingredients
- strain — to remove liquid using cloth or sievestrained
- coagulant — a substance that makes liquid become solid
- curd — solid pieces that form when liquid thickenscurds
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Discussion questions
- Would you like to try tsodibi (Yanbian-style water tofu)? Why or why not?
- Have you ever helped make a family food with many steps? What did you do?
- How would you serve tofu at home, simply or with other ingredients?
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