Gluten is not a bean product, but a food made by washing the starch contained in wheat flour with water to filter it out, adding rice and other substances to the remaining gluten formed by protein, and steaming or boiling. That is to say, mix the dough with water, wake it up with a pot cover for a while, and then wash the dough with a pot of clear water. At first, the water will be very turbid, because all the washed out is starch.

When the gluten content is high, it is called high gluten powder. This kind of flour will form a lot of wheat protein network structure during kneading, which makes the dough very tough. When the gluten content is low, it is low gluten powder. The dough kneaded with it will be very crisp, because there is less network structure, so it is often used to make cookies and cakes.

Oil gluten history

Oil gluten has long been a famous local product in Wuxi, China. It is golden in color, smooth in surface, crisp in flavor and delicious to eat. It can be used in restaurants to turn over a variety of dishes, and is often used to accompany meals, cook and cook soup. There is also a folk custom in Wuxi. Every family reunion on holidays, a bowl of meat is indispensable at the dinner table to show the reunion and increase the happy atmosphere.

It is rich in vitamins and protein. If it is stuffed into meat pulp and cooked, it will have a unique flavor. Wuxi oil gluten was produced in the Qing dynasty (1mid-8th century) and has a history of more than 230 years.

At the beginning, the preparation method was to step the screened bran with salt water into raw bran by manpower, then knead the raw bran into a block and fry it in a boiling oil pan to become spherical hollow oil gluten. The name of clear water oil gluten appeared in the late Qing Dynasty (1mid-9th century), and the first one to hang up the signboard of "clear water oil gluten" was Ma Chengmao gluten shop in Badou Lane.