Shanghainese Kao Fu (Braised Wheat Gluten) Recipe (V, V+)

I want to introduce to you today a Shanghainese dish that I grew up eating and ABSOLUTELY LOVE. It’s called kao fu - which is the chinese name for wheat gluten. In english, the dish is often known as braised wheat gluten. If you haven’t had it before, kao fu is deliciously spongey, and tastes similar to tofu. It’s vegan and meat free and is typically served as a cold appetizer. However my family enjoys it as a side with dinner and I even just love having it on its own with rice.

The dish originates from Shanghai, where my family is from, and it’s absolutely delicious but I rarely see it around. I know there are a lot of enthusiastic cooks out here who love to experiment and learn about new cuisines, so I wanted to share this incredible dish with you. This recipe is from my mum, whose cooked this dish for decades and loves it as much as me. Even Tom who’s never had this dish before, thought it was delicious!

And the most amazing thing is that it’s simple to make and most of the ingredients can be bought dried and can be used in may other Asian dishes.

Ingredients:

The amounts of kao fu, shiitake mushrooms, black fungus, lily flower and unsalted peanuts do not have to be exact. Go by what is convenient for you and what size kao fu packets you can buy. A ratio of 3:2:2:1:1 (kao fu : mushroom : black fungus : lily flower : peanuts) is generally a pretty good ratio.

• 1 1/2 cup kao fu 烤麩 aka wheat gluten (10x10x5cm was the size of mine)

Kao fu can be found at Chinese supermarkets in the tofu section. It’s not tofu, but very similar!

• 10 dried shiitake mushrooms 香菇

• 1 cup dried black fungus 黑木耳

• 1/2 cup dried lily flower 金针菜

You can buy shiitake mushrooms, black fungus and lily flower dried in Chinese supermarkets - they’re all very common items so you should have no trouble finding them. But if you’re having problems finding them, I’ve also written them in Chinese in case it helps.

• 1/2 cup unsalted peanuts

• Ginger

• Oil

• 3 tbsp light soy sauce

• 3 tbsp dark soy sauce

• 3 tbsp shao xing wine (Chinese cooking wine)

• 3 tbsp sugar

• A few shakes of white pepper

• 500ml water

How to Make

Soak the shiitake mushrooms, dried black fungus and lily flower in water until rehydrated (usually 4-8 hours so I usually soak them in the morning so that I can cook in the afternoon). Slice into bite sized pieces.

Slice the kao fu into 2-3cm cubes (if not already sliced).

Heat oil in a pan. Add ginger and fry for 2-3 minutes. Then, add kao fu and fry for 5 mins.

Add the rehydrated shiitake mushrooms, dried black fungus, lily flower and peanuts into the pan & mix.

Add the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, shaoxing wine, sugar and pepper and fry for 5-10 mins until everything is mixed well.

Add 500ml water to the pan. Bring this to boil and then simmer with the lid off until all water has evaporated (around 30 mins). Whilst this step seems unncessary, it’s so important to having all the flavours soak in! Stir now and then to prevent anything from sticking.

Serve and enjoy

This dish also tastes amazing served cold so enjoy how you like!