Braised Gluten

Braised Gluten

　　　A famous vegetarian dish from Shanghai. Gluten is made by fermenting flour with seasonings, then steaming it into a wheat protein product. Regular gluten is not easily infused with flavors, but the renowned Shanghai vegetarian restaurant “Gongdelin” created a special type of gluten that, when cooked, offers excellent texture and taste, making it highly popular and enduringly famous. Ingredients: 500g gluten, 200g bamboo shoots, 100g shiitake mushrooms, 250g pressed tofu, 25g golden needles (daylily buds), 30g wood ear mushrooms, 2g ginger, 2g sesame oil, 3g star anise, 85g soy sauce, 15g cooking wine, 5g sugar, 1g pepper, 1g MSG, 80g oil.

　　Cooking Method: 1. Rinse the gluten with water, squeeze out the moisture, then tear it into small pieces by hand. Heat oil to 80% heat, deep-fry the torn gluten until golden brown, then remove and drain. 2. Peel and slice the bamboo shoots, soak and thinly slice the shiitake mushrooms, cut each piece of pressed tofu diagonally into 3 slices, and soak the golden needles and wood ear mushrooms until soft. 3. Heat oil in a pan, add shiitake mushrooms, tofu, bamboo shoot slices, golden needles, and wood ear mushrooms, then finally add the fried gluten. Drizzle with cooking wine, then add soy sauce, wine, sugar, pepper, MSG, sesame oil, ginger slices, and star anise. Add water and simmer over medium heat until the sauce thickens. Drizzle with sesame oil before serving. Gluten: Gluten is made by fermenting flour with seasonings and steaming it into a wheat protein product over high heat in a steamer, then roasting it. Using this as the base, it is cooked with seasonings such as soy sauce and sugar to become a dish. “Gongdelin” established its own workshop in the 1930s to produce cooked gluten and steam various dishes. Due to the high quality and excellent flavor of this gluten, it quickly gained fame throughout the city and remains enduringly popular.