Then & Now | Soybeans: healthy and full of protein, they’ve fed China for centuries – here’s how they’re processed, their products, and why they have a lesbian link
- Soybeans have provided varied sources of taste and nutrition in China, and other parts of East Asia, for more than 2,000 years
- They are made into products including soy sauce, tofu, bean curd skin and milk, while a particularly vulgar Cantonese euphemism links them to lesbians
Among the healthiest and most easily digestible sources of vegetable protein, the humble soybean – known in Cantonese as daai dau (“great bean”) – has provided varied sources of taste and nutrition in China, and other parts of East Asia, for more than 2,000 years.
Soybeans are produced in massive quantities all over the world, principally in Australia, Canada, the United States and – increasingly – on vast farms carved in virgin rainforest in the interior of Brazil.
Most soybeans are not destined for direct human consumption, however; much of the world’s soybean output is further processed for use as a high-protein animal food.
Annually increasing pork production in China has driven constant demand for soybeans for the past three decades.
When supply-chain disruptions occur due to human conflict – such as in Ukraine – or climate-related crop failures, increases in the price of soybeans are immediately noticeable elsewhere.
Numerous methods are used to process soybeans.
