The origin of Wuxi oil gluten
Wuxi oil gluten was produced in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty (the middle of the 18th century), and it has been more than 230 years ago. The original preparation method was to add sifted bran to salt water and manually step it into raw bran (also known as gluten). The raw bran was then kneaded into blocks and fried in a boiling oil pan to become spherical and hollow oily gluten. The term "Qingshuiyougluten" appeared in the late Qing Dynasty (mid-19th century). The first store to display a "Qingshuiyougluten" sign was the Ma Chengmao Gluten Shop in Badou Nong.
Wuxi oil gluten is golden in color, smooth in surface, crispy in taste, delicious and rich in vitamins and protein. If it is stuffed with meat and cooked, it will have a unique flavor.
Wuxi oil gluten is very famous. It can be used as an ingredient in restaurants to make a variety of dishes. It is suitable for home use with rice, cooking, and soup. There is also a folk custom in Wuxi that when families get together during festivals, a bowl of meat stuffed with oil and made into gluten is indispensable at the dinner table to show reunion and increase the happy atmosphere. Oil gluten has long become a famous local specialty of Wuxi.
Speaking of the origin of oily gluten, it was first fried by a master in a nunnery. To go to Huishan in the past, you had to pass through Wuli Street. There is a Dade Bridge at the end of Wuli Street and a nunnery by the bridge. This nunnery is close to Huishan and is quiet. During the four seasons of the year and the Bodhisattva's birthday, many old ladies from Wuxi Chengxiang come here to recite Buddha's name and sit all night. Sometimes they recite seven Buddhas and stay in the nunnery for six or seven days. There is a cook in the nunnery who is famous for her vegetarian dishes. As the saying goes, "Tofu and louvers are nothing." The dishes she cooks are extraordinary, unique and delicious. The master cooks vegetarian dishes, and he often uses raw bran as the main ingredient, braised in braised vegetables, stir-fried in shreds, and cooked in soups. The old lady is really satisfied with the food. When meeting the wives or young ladies of wealthy families, the master prepared raw bran with fine winter bamboo shoots and shiitake mushrooms, and each dish attracted a lot of praise at the vegetarian banquet. There are a lot of people who come to the nunnery to pray for Buddha, and there are many lay people who come to eat vegetarian meals. No wonder the cook always prepares a small jar full of raw bran.
One time, dozens of old ladies from the countryside who had originally agreed to come to the nunnery to pray and sit up all night did not come that day for unknown reasons. The cook had prepared the raw bran needed for several vegetarian meals in the morning, so why didn't she worry about it. Raw bran becomes rancid overnight and cannot be eaten overnight. The cook first put some salt in the bran vat, but she was still uneasy, fearing that something would get sick in the vat. She thought about it and tried to open a frying pan and fry the raw bran to prevent it from going rancid. It could still be used for vegetarian meals tomorrow morning. There was too much oil in the pan. When the oil came to a boil, the master was afraid that the raw bran would not be fried thoroughly, so he fried it into small pieces. He threw handfuls into the pan and turned the spatula several times. Hey, that's weird! I saw pieces of raw bran in the pot swelled into golden and clear hollow balls, jumping down in the boiling oil. The master picked up the crispy balls with his fingers, smelled the fragrance with his nose, and tasted the delicious taste in his mouth. fresh. She was so happy that she hurriedly came to see all the teachers. They all praised it and named the deep-fried bran hollow balls "Yougluten". The cook made a plan in her mind. From then on, the vegetarian restaurant in the nunnery added fried gluten, stuffed gluten, gluten bamboo shoot slices, gluten soup, vegetarian dishes and delicacies. Every day, the vegetarian table was opened. If you get less, you won’t have to worry about not having many guests. As word spread, nunneries and monasteries everywhere began to imitate the method, adding oil and gluten to their vegetarian meals.
Not long after, oil and gluten shops opened one after another in Wuxi. Pickled gluten has entered thousands of households, and meat-stuffed gluten, gluten-fried shredded pork, and vegetable-roasted gluten have become daily meals. As for those restaurants and restaurants, the chefs are even more like the Eight Immortals who have crossed the sea, showing off their magic skills and cooking many famous traditional dishes of Wuxi.