Kyoto, Japan — shojin ryori origin, now Kyoto luxury food tradition
Namafu (fresh wheat gluten) is a Kyoto speciality food made from wheat gluten (fu or seitan) that is kneaded with mochi rice flour and various natural colourings to produce an ingredient of remarkable textural delicacy — chewy, springy, and uniquely absorptive of surrounding flavours. Namafu is distinct from Chinese-style seitan (which is firm, meaty in texture) — the mochi rice flour addition gives it a soft, almost pudding-like interior with elastic bite. Available in numerous shapes and seasonal colours: bamboo (green, spring), autumn leaves (red-orange), chrysanthemum flowers, pine branch (winter). Namafu is a shojin ryori (Buddhist vegetarian) protein-substitute that became a Kyoto luxury ingredient in its own right. Preparations: simmered in dashi (namafu no nimono), grilled with dengaku miso, or served in clear soups where it absorbs the broth entirely.
Neutral, delicate, absorptive — namafu's flavour is entirely from the surrounding dashi; textural contrast of chewy-elastic exterior with soft interior is its defining quality
Namafu must not be over-heated (it loses its delicate texture and becomes tough); when simmering in dashi, use gentle heat and brief cooking time (2–3 minutes); its absorptive quality means the seasoning of the dashi must be perfect as namafu will take on all flavour from the liquid; dengaku preparation: cut thick slices, grill briefly on both sides, apply dengaku miso and return to grill for 1 minute to set miso.
Kyoto's Namafu Semba is the traditional namafu production district — the seasonal shapes are a calendar of Japanese aesthetics; namafu in a clear suimono soup (clear broth with no miso) is the kaiseki technique: float a small seasonal-shaped namafu piece in the crystal-clear futamono for visual perfection; namafu absorbs colour from vegetable juices — coating in yomogi (mugwort) powder gives spring green colouring that is both visual and slightly grassy-flavoured.
Treating namafu as seitan/wheat meat and cooking it at high heat for long periods (destroys its delicate mochi-gluten texture); over-seasoning the surrounding dashi (namafu absorbs and concentrates flavour — season more delicately than for other simmered dishes); storing cut namafu in plain water (it absorbs water and loses flavour — store in lightly seasoned dashi); mistaking namafu for regular fu (dried wheat gluten which has completely different texture and requires soaking).
Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art — Shizuo Tsuji