Wheat Gluten Salad
麻酱面筋
English: Wheat gluten salad
Chinese: 麻酱面筋
Pinyin: ma jiang mian jin
Literal Translation: Sesame sauce wheat gluten
Wheat gluten is largely unknown in the West. Indeed, I’d never seen it before I came to China. Uncooked, wheat gluten looks like a loaf of focaccia, but springier. Indeed, when I first discovered cubes of wheat gluten in my ma la tang soup, I assumed it was some kind of Chinese bread. I was not completely wrong. It is made by washing wheat flour dough with water until much of the flour has dissolved and turned the water murky, leaving behind a strange elastic dough. The leftover water is not discarded, but instead turned into liang pi noodles, and the gluten is made into wheat gluten.
The modern obsession with high-protein foods in the West seems to have overlooked wheat gluten. It’s often relegated to the fridges of health-food stores, seen as some bland vegan alternative to meat. But it’s an amazing ingredient, absorbing much more flavour than tofu as the spongy texture can suck in the rich sauces of soups and stews.
Learn more about Wheat Gluten in my explainer here.
Serves 2-3
Ingredients
150g Wheat gluten
1 cucumber - grated
1 carrot - grated
2-3 spring onions - chopped
1 small bunch of coriander - finely chopped
1 clove garlic - finely chopped
2 teaspoons - Sichuan peppercorns
2 tablespoons peanuts - roughly chopped
For the sauce
2 cloves garlic - finely chopped
1 small red chilli - finely chopped
2 tablespoons dark vinegar
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
2 teaspoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese sesame paste
1 teaspoon chilli oil (such as lao gan ma)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Sprinkle of sesame seeds
Method
Cut the wheat gluten into 2cm cubes, then rinse in cold water. Boil a pan of water, and when boiling, add the wheat gluten and cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove and rinse under cold water until cool, and then squeeze out as much water as you can and set aside.
Prepare the vegetables: grate the carrot and cucumber and squeeze any excess water out. Chop the spring onions and coriander and set them all aside.
Make the sauce: add all the ingredients together except the sesame oil. Add a touch of water to the sauce, this is essential, otherwise the sauce will be absorbed by the gluten and the wheat gluten will become too salty. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Heat the tablespoon of sesame oil in a frying pan, and when it’s smoking, add the Sichuan peppercorns and fry for 30 seconds. Pour the oil and peppercorns into the sauce. The garlic should sizzle. Give the sauce one final stir.
In a mixing bowl, add the wheat gluten and the grated veg, spring onions, garlic and coriander. Pour over the sauce and stir together.
Sprinkle over the peanuts and serve.
