1.
wheat gluten; fu (dried or fresh gluten cake)
A traditional Japanese food made from wheat gluten, available in dried or fresh forms and used in soups, stews, and other dishes.
味噌汁に麩を入れる。
Add fu to miso soup.
乾燥した麩を水で戻す。
Rehydrate dried fu in water.
京都の生麩は和菓子にも使われる。
Fresh fu from Kyoto is also used in Japanese confections.
麩は低カロリーで高たんぱくな食材として見直されている。
Fu is being reconsidered as a low-calorie, high-protein ingredient.
A traditional Japanese ingredient made by washing wheat flour dough to extract the gluten. Comes in two main forms: 焼き麩 (baked and dried fu) and 生麩 (fresh fu).
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 焼き麩: baked/dried fu — the most common type, light and spongy
- 生麩: fresh fu — a Kyoto specialty with a soft, mochi-like texture
- 車麩: wheel-shaped fu — a large ring-shaped dried fu, specialty of Niigata
- 麩の味噌汁: miso soup with fu
- 麩菓子: fu snack — a sweet snack made from baked fu coated in brown sugar
SIMILAR WORDS:
- グルテン: gluten — the loanword, used in scientific or Western food contexts
- 豆腐: tofu — also a protein-rich traditional food, but made from soybeans rather than wheat
CULTURAL NOTE:
Fu has been a staple of Japanese Buddhist vegetarian cuisine (精進料理) for centuries. 生麩 from Kyoto is considered a delicacy and is often shaped into decorative forms for use in traditional 懐石 cuisine.