Recipe: Vegan BBQ Yuba Skewers

Welcome to your yummiest Meatless Monday ever. We tapped San Diego’s Rachel Steenland (who shares dreamy vegan recipes with more than 160,000 followers on her Instagram account @thegardenparty.official) and sleek South Park vegan spot Kindred (a regular on our annual Best Restaurants list) to share the stuff and steps behind their favorite
plant-based eats.

“The BBQ Yuba Skewers are 100 percent the Kindred staff favorite. The warmth and crunch of the grilled yuba are amazing, and the sweet, tart, and rich ‘pomchujang’ (pomegranate and gochujang) BBQ sauce offsets the spicy mustard, balancing the flavors perfectly,” says Caleigh Castañeda, Kindred General Manager. “The pomegranate in the BBQ really shines through, giving this dish a subtle berry finish that pairs really well with the fall flavors featured in our current cocktail menu.” 

BBQ Yuba Skewers (Serves 12)

Ingredients

Pomchujang

• 1 cup ketchup
• 1⁄2 cup sour
• pomegranate molasses (Sadaf brand)
• 1⁄2 cup gochujang paste
• 3 1⁄2 tablespoons agave nectar
• 3 tablespoons Maggi seasoning
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons sesame oil

Place all ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined.

Hot Mustard

• 1⁄3 cup hot water
• 3 tablespoons mustard powder
• 2 tablespoons
• rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons agave nectar
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 teaspoon mirin
• 1 1⁄4 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon white pepper, freshly ground

Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined.

Yuba Skewer

Yields: about 12 one-inch bites

• 1 pack (two sheets) yuba sheets (Hodo brand)
• Six-inch wooden skewers, soaked in water for one hour prior to assembly to prevent burning
• Toasted white and black sesame seeds, for garnish

Cooking Instructions

1. Carefully unfold your yuba sheets into a single layer.
2. Using one layer at a time, lay the yuba in front of you so that the longest side is horizontal.
3. Using a pastry brush, brush both sides of the yuba sheet with the pomchujang.
4. Fold the yuba sheet in half, folding the right side over to the left.
5. Begin to roll the yuba up tightly like you would a Swiss roll, starting from the bottom edge closest to your body and rolling upwards.
6. Repeat with the second yuba sheet.
7. Cut your yuba rolls into one-inch pieces and skewer them (with the spiral facing outwards so that you can see all of the layers), either individually to create yuba “lollipops” or with several pieces per skewer to create kebabs.
8. Brush the yuba pieces with more pomchujang and sear them on a very hot, oiled grill until you achieve hard grill marks on both sides.
9. When they come off the grill, brush them once again with pomchujang, sprinkle them with sesame seeds, and serve them with hot mustard.