The Fu

During today's coffeehouse discussion, while we each described the first food we could ever remember tasting, an unknown player entered the stage. The Fu, described as being a wheat foodstuff similar to tofu, which none of us had ever before seen or heard tell of. Intrigued, I searched for the origins of the mysterious Fu.

Fu is actually part of a larger family of food, known as Wheat Gluten. This is made by washing the starch out of wheat dough and then processing the gluten in a number of ways, often unique depending on the culture. Fu is a type of Wheat Gluten developed in Japan, with both raw and baked forms, known as nama-fu and yaki-fu.

Nama-fu is mixed with rice flour and steamed, which are often colored and formed into shapes to enhance their attractiveness.

Yaki-fu is baked into long breadlike sticks and is most often added to soups to enrich their flavor.

And there you have it! The identity of that elusive Fu!