Braised Gluten Puffs 红烧面筋

CC#2 is gluten intolerant. Unfortunate for her, some of the best Chinese vegetarian dishes use wheat gluten as their main ingredients. Wheat gluten, 面筋 in Chinese, can be made in various forms as the raw ingredient in vegetarian cooking. One particular kind, which is fried into round puffs, was made into one of my mom’s specialty called 秃烧面筋 which I have not been able to find a similar version online.

During the past Chinese new year, I went home to visit mom at the hospital. I found a recipe on Bing (I was not able to find it from google search after I came home) 红烧面筋 which looks and tastes very similar to my mom’s recipe. Mom was very happy. I made this dish again in May when we returned to China again and the kids were amazed that such simple ingredients can result in such a tasty dish. BTW: The flavor profile is quite similar to another recipe already posted called Budda’s Delight (which uses steamed gluten loaf instead of gluten puffs).

Ingredients:

  • 1 bag of Wheat Gluten Puffs (see photo)

  • 5-10 ounces of frozen Edamame

  • 1-2 carrot, peeled and sliced

  • 4-5 dried Chinese shiitake mushrooms香菇 soaked in boiling hot water for 20 minutes

  • 4-5 dried or fresh wood ear mushrooms (optional), prepared same way as dried mushrooms

  • 2-3 scallions, chopped, white and green parts separated

  • 1-2 tbsp soy sauce

  • 1-2 tbsp oyster sauce

  • 1-2 tbsp sugar

  • sliced bamboo shoots, optional

Instructions:

  • Prick a hole in each gluten puff and pour boiling water over them to deflate and soften them but also to remove some grease. Pour out the water once cooled and set aside

  • Cook edamame in boiling water for about 5 minutes and set aside

  • Slice each soaked dried shiitake mushroom into 2-3 pieces

  • Put wok on high heat, add 1 tbsp of oil and stir-fry mushroom pieces for a few seconds, add a little sugar and water, and continue to sauté until water is absorbed (a couple more minutes)

  • Add white part of scallion pieces to wok and stir-fry with mushrooms until scallions are fragrant

  • Add sliced carrots, wood ear mushroom, sliced bamboo shoots or other vegetables such as bell peppers into wok and stir-fry for another minute or two

  • Add soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and adjust the taste

  • Add gluten puffs and enough hot water to cover the mixture in wok, about 1 to 1.5 cups

  • Bring to boil on high heat, and continue to stir until liquid thickens and gradually gets absorbed (taste now to adjust flavor—you can add a little salt at this point)

  • Add cooked edamame and a little sesame oil

  • Stir together and you are done!

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