Wuxi Qingshui oil gluten began in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, with a history of more than 200 years, is a traditional food in Wuxi, and belongs to one of the three major specialties of Wuxi (three specialties: peach, sauce ribs and qingshui oil gluten).
The raw material of water oil gluten is raw bran, which is to grind the wheat into wheat bran flour, mix it with the right amount of water, and rub it in the water to sieve and wash, separate the starch, leaving the gluten. It is said that it is the daughter of the wine saint Dukang, with wheat flour pulp cloth, leaving a very tough white thing, feeling that it is a pity to throw it away, so I cooked it and ate it, which felt very delicious. Later, others will dip the bran into salt water and rub it repeatedly to get a large amount of raw bran.
During the Qianlong period, the monks of Huishan Temple used raw bran as the material for vegetarian fasting, in order to prevent raw bran from getting dirty, the temple cook tried to fry the raw bran in a frying pan, and in the high temperature oil pot, the raw bran was fried into a golden yellow ball, and the water oil gluten was thus formed. This practice spread to the major hotels in Wuxi, and oil gluten became a delicacy on the public table.
During the Xianfeng period, Ma Chengmao ran a "Wuxi Famous Products" oil gluten shop in Wuxi City. Advertised in the newspaper, Wuxi has Huishan Spring, so it is not Wuxi that makes qingshui oil gluten. Diners from Greater Shanghai rushed to Wuxi to eat, and thus Wuxi's qingshui oil gluten became famous overnight. Oil gluten appears in different forms in Wuxi cuisine, which can be fried and boiled, can be paired with meat, and can also be paired with vegetarian dishes.
In order to solve the problem of oil gluten take-out, Ma Qiaoyuan made a diamond-shaped mesh-hole Bamboo Lou carrying oil gluten, which was only replaced by plastic food bags in the 1960s.
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