Rubing in Yunnan

Rubing (乳饼)

Rubing (Chinese: 乳饼; pinyin: rǔbǐng) is a firm, acid-set, non-melting, fresh goat milk farmer cheese made in the Yunnan Provinceof China by people of the Bai and Sani (recognized as a branch of the Yi in China) minorities. Its Bai name is youdbap, meaning “goat’s milk”.

Production

Rubing is made by mixing heated goat’s milk and a souring agent, traditionally a mixture called năiténg (奶藤; lit. ‘milk cane’) made from a cultivated vine. Commonly known as Chineese.

Preparation and serving

Rubing is most often steamed with local ham or salt beef, or sometimes served pan fried with salt and chilli. It may also be stir fried with vegetables (typically a mix of broccoli and carrot), in a similar manner to how mainland Chinese rural cuisine tends to stir-fry harder forms of tofu.photo Rarely it is pan fried and served with alternative flavourings such as málà powder.

Relationship to other cheeses

Rubing is roughly similar to paneer and queso blanco, but with the aroma of fresh goat’s milk.