Seitan / Wheat Gluten (Fu, Mian Jin, Mock Duck)

What it is

Pure wheat gluten — the protein left when starch is washed out of dough — cooked into a chewy, meat-like protein. The original "mock meat."

How it's made

Wheat dough is kneaded and rinsed under water until the starch washes away, leaving stretchy raw gluten, which is then simmered, steamed, baked, or fried.

Forms across cultures — - Mian jin (麵筋, Chinese): spongy kao fu (baked gluten, for braises), fried gluten puffs/balls, and the Buddhist mock-meat tradition that turns gluten into "mock duck," "mock abalone," and more. - Fu (麩, Japanese): lighter, often dried decorative gluten — nama-fu (fresh, chewy, mochi-like, simmered) and yaki-fu (baked, dry, spongy, rehydrated for soups and sukiyaki). - Seitan (Western/macrobiotic term): the firm, savory, simmered gluten popularized as a meat substitute.

Flavor profile

Neutral on its own; prized for a dense, springy, meat-like chew that carries marinades and braising liquids powerfully.

Culinary uses

Braised, fried, and simmered as the protein in vegetarian/Buddhist temple cuisine; "mock duck" in tomato or soy braises; kao fu in cold Shanghainese appetizers; fu in clear Japanese soups.

Cultural & historical context

Developed in Chinese Buddhist temple kitchens as a way to make satisfying meatless food, then refined in Japan into the elegant fu tradition — a centuries-old answer to plant-based eating.

Reference notes

Tags: `wheat`, `gluten`, `mock-meat`, `vegetarian`, `chinese`, `japanese`. Related: tofu, tempeh. Cuisines: Chinese, Japanese. Links → Buddhist Cuisine, Kao Fu, Mock Duck.