When and where was the last time you had these soft and tender, luscious, meaty yet melt-in-the mouth, and super flavoursome Gluten Balls? Growing up in Hong Kong, we used to buy them from street hawkers as a tasty snack, order them as a gourmet dish from vegetarian restaurants, or enjoy them as part of a delicious meal at dining halls from some of the Buddhist or Taoist temples. 你上次吃到這些柔軟、嫩滑、香氣四溢、肉資但入口即化，而且超級美味的麵筋球是什麼時候，什麼地方？ 在香港長大，我們非常喜愛這些三色齋。 過去常常可以從街頭小販那裡買來作小吃，在素食餐廳點來作小菜，或在很多佛教或道教寺院的食堂享用它們作為美味齋菜的一部分。 ( 中文食譜在下面 For the Chinese recipe please scroll down) You don’t need to be a vegetarian or vegan to enjoy these scrumptious delicacies. For far too long, I have been craving them again and thought about cooking them myself. But the traditional method involved washing the flour, resting the dough and then deep-frying before stewing. After lots of experimenting and taste-testing, I have created a more straightforward recipe that takes less time, with a healthier cooking method and resulting in a softer texture and flavour. I can’t wait to share more recipes from my delicious Baked Gluten Puffs method series with you all! The "Baked Gluten Puff" idea is adapted from one of the most famous Chineses foods “Fried Gluten Balls". The original creation including washing the flour and deep-frying. I have made them a lot quicker and healthier, tastier and the texture softer. How to make Baked Gluten Puffs? First, the rested dough pieces will be placed in the oven to bake, they will puff up roundly and become hollow inside, only to collapse almost instantly after being taken out. Wait one minute then return them to the oven for them to puff up slightly once more, and that’s how you want them. The magically light, fluffy and airy pillows will absorb any lovely sauce you would like to cook them with. You can use these baked gluten puffs to make all sorts of vegan meat. Pork, Beef and Chicken substitutes can be created and cooked in various ways to accompany all kinds of of delicious dishes- the sky is your limit! Here I braised the puffs with three different sauces: Five Spice, Satay and Sweet & Sour. They all taste absolutely divine! You would never know they are made with vital wheat gluten. I love the washed flour method so much. But I have to admit, I love using vital wheat gluten equally. If you successfully balance the proportions of your liquid to dry ingredients and season correctly- vital wheat gluten is one of the best products out there for us vegans. Please check out the The Ultimate Vegan Braised Beef Noodles, Vegan Char Siu, the Vegan Sweet & Sour Pork on our YouTube Channel - Rice Bowl Tales; if you’ll find time to try and make these simple and scrumptious dishes, you’ll agree with me too. 我實在等不及要與大家分享 —— 我烤麵筋泡芙系列中更多美味的食譜！ 「烤麵筋泡芙」的創意改源自中國著名的美食之一 「油炸麵筋球」—— 或簡稱「油麵筋」。原來的技巧包括洗麵粉和油炸。 我的方法讓整個製過程變得更快、更健康、更美味和令成品的口感更柔軟。 如何製作烤麵筋泡芙? 首先，將醒好的麵糰放入烤箱烘烤，它們會逐漸膨脹成圓形，內部呈空心狀，取出後幾乎瞬間塌陷。 等一分鐘，然後將它們放回烤箱，讓它們再次稍微膨脹起來，這就是你想要的效果。 烤麵筋泡芙是非常的輕軟、蓬鬆，像空心的枕頭般，將會吸收任何你想用來一起烹煮的美味醬汁。 你可以用這些烤麵筋泡芙製作各種純素肉。 像素豬肉、素牛肉和素雞肉的菜色，都可以通過不同簡單健康方法的烹飪，而達到理想的效果。用以搭配各種美味菜餚 ——可能性是無限的！ 在這裡，我用三種不同的醬汁煮燉泡芙：五香滷水、沙爹和糖醋。 它們嚐起來都有不同的香稔、嫩滑和入味！ 你永遠不會知道是用小麥麵筋粉製成的。 我雖然非常喜歡用洗麵粉方法做出來的麵筋， 但必須承認，我同樣喜歡使用麵筋粉做成的效果。 如果你成功地平衡了液體與乾成分的比例並加入了正確的調味 - 小麥麵筋其實是提供給我們素食者最好的產品之一。 請在我們的 YouTube 頻道 - Rice Bowl Tales 中查看最美味素紅燒牛肉湯麵、以及素咕噜肉。 它們都是用小麥麵筋粉製成的； 如果你有時間嘗試做這些簡單而美味小菜的話，你也會同意我的說法。 ( 中文食譜在下面 For the Chinese recipe please scroll down) Homemade Delicious Braised Gluten Puffs Ingredients: For the wheat meat: 100g vital wheat gluten flour ¼ tsp salt 200ml warm water (30 - 32°C) 1 tsp sugar ½ tsp dried active yeast (the type needs to dissolve in water) Small bowl of all purpose plain flour for dusting and coating For the Five Spice Sauce : 500ml water 4 slices ginger 2 star anise ½ tsp five spice powder ½ tsp sand ginger powder 20g brown sugar 1 tbsp cooking wine ½ tsp salt ½ tsp ground white pepper ½ tsp natural mushroom seasoning 2 tsp vegan oyster sauce 1½ tbsp light soy sauce ½ tbsp dark soy sauce ½ tbsp sesame oil For the Satay Sauce : 1 cup water 4 tbsp satay paste (we used the Yeo’s brand) 1 tbsp turmeric ¼ tsp salt ½ tsp sugar ½ tsp natural mushroom seasoning 1 tsp sesame oil For the Sweet & Sour sauce : 1 tbsp cooking wine 2 tbsp light soy sauce 2 tbsp tomato ketchup 3 tbsp rice vinegar 4 tbsp sugar 2 tsp sesame oil ½ cup water Method : 1 To make the wheat meat: In a measuring jug, add the water, sugar, and then the yeast and stir to mix. Leave the mixture for 5 minutes to activate the yeast. 2 Put the vital wheat gluten flour in a bowl, add the salt, and mix to combine. 3 After 5 minutes, pour the yeast and water mixture into the wheat gluten flour. Use a spatular to mix it together quickly into a soft dough. You need to work fast as vital wheat gluten flour absorbs water really quickly. If not mixed well fast enough, it could result in uneven textured dough. 4 Once the dough is formed, gently press and squeeze it together for 2 minutes. You don’t need to do too much kneading or pushing, as the shape and texture of the dough has more or less been formed once the water was added into it. 5 Put the dough in a small rectangular container, press into the edges and corners, cover and leave it at room temperature, 20 – 22 °C (68 – 72 °F), for an hour. 6 After an hour, pre-heat the oven to 180°C, and line and oil two baking trays. Dust the work surface with some all purpose plain flour, turn the dough over onto it, sprinkle a little more plain flour and gently rub the flour all over the dough (no need to knead). Keeping the dough in its shape, turn it over a few times to make sure the plain flour absorbs all the excess water, until it’s dry to the touch. 7 Straighten all edges and corners of the dough on the work surface. Dust some flour on a large plate. Measure and cut the dough into three equal-width long strips, then cut the strips into six equal square pieces. Roll all sides of the pieces with the flour from the work surface, and place them onto the large plate, leaving some space between each piece. Proceed to finish all three strips. 8 Scoop 2tbsp flour into a deep dish, add the dough balls in and coat each one evenly in batches; then put all the coated dough balls on a mesh sieve to shake off any excess. Lower all the sieved coated balls back in the deep dish and add 2 tbsp oil in to toss and cover all the pieces. 9 Arrange the dough pieces on the two oiled baking trays, making sure to keep a good distance between each one as they will inflate and rise inside the oven. 10 Put the trays in the oven, and set a timer for 7 minutes. Watch the dough pieces rise. After 7 minutes, take them out, and let cool for a minute before putting them back in for another 5 minutes, the puffed up pieces may deflate at this point, but they will puff up slightly again once inside. When the time’s up, remove the trays from the oven and leave to one side whilst you preparing the sauces. 11 Add the ingredients of the three different sauces in three different small sauce pans. Stir to mix well, put on the hobs over medium heat and bring them to boil. Once boiled, put 6 pieces of the puffed gluten in each sauce. Bring the sauces back to the boil then cover to simmer over a low heat for 10 minutes. 12 In the mean time, bring a pan of water to boil, season with ½ tsp salt and 1 tbsp oil, add some green vegetables in to blanch in batches (we used bak choy and tender stem broccoli). Take the vegetables out once the water comes to the boil, to preserve the vibrant colour - you do not need to put them in ice bath; just spread and drain them on the colander briefly then put on a plate for using as garnish and as a side dish later. 13 Now give your attention back to the puffed glutens. You can decide at this point if you need to add a little natural red food colouring to the Sweet and Sour ones, they will be perfectly fine as they are. But I just added a tiny amount for presentation purpose. Make sure you don’t braise the puffed gluten pieces for more than 10 minutes. Once the time is up, turn off the heat, bring them all to the table, along with the blanched vegetables to plate up. 14. Place all three different flavours of braised glutens into the centre of a large serving plate, then arrange the green vegetables around, garnish with some fresh coriander or watercress. 15. There you have it! A beautiful plateful of the traditionally well loved vegetarian (vegan) dish produced in your own home. ( 中文食譜在下面 For the Chinese recipe please scroll down ) 最健康美味三色齋 — 自家製紅燒烤麵筋泡芙 材料 : 素肉 : 麵筋粉 (vital wheat gluten flour) 100g 鹽 ¼ 小匙 温水 200ml (30 - 32°C) 1 小匙糖 ½ 小匙乾酵母（需要溶於水的種類） 1 小碗中筋麵粉，用作吸乾麵糰表面水份和防黏之用 五香滷水汁： 水 500ml 姜 4 片 八角 2 粒 五香粉 ½ 小匙 沙薑粉 ½ 小匙 紅糖 20g 料酒 1 大匙 鹽 ½ 小匙 白胡椒粉 ½ 小匙 天然蘑菇調味粉 ½ 小匙 純素蠔油 2 小匙 生抽 1½ 大匙 老抽 ½ 大匙 芝麻油 ½ 大匙 沙爹醬汁 : 水 1 杯 沙爹醬 4 大匙（我們用的是楊協成品牌） 薑黃粉 1 大匙 鹽 ¼ 小匙 糖 ½ 小匙 天然蘑菇調味粉 ½ 小匙 芝麻油 1 小匙 糖醋咕嚕汁 : 酒 1 大匙 生抽 2 大匙 番茄醬 2 大匙 米醋 3 大匙 糖 3 - 4 大匙 (取決於你喜歡有多甜) 麻油 2 小匙 水 ½ 杯 做法： 1 做素肉：在量杯中，加入水、糖、酵母，攪拌混合，靜置 5 分鐘讓酵母活化。 2 在碗中加入麵筋粉，加入鹽，混合均勻。 3 5 分鐘後，將水和酵母混合物倒入麵筋粉中，用抹刀快速攪拌成柔軟的麵團，你的動作要靈活，因為麵筋粉吸水很快，如果攪拌不夠快， 可能會導致某部份吸水量不均勻。 4 麵團成型後，輕輕按壓，揉捏 2 分鐘，不要太用力推和搓，因為一旦加入水，麵團的形狀和質地或多或少已形成了。 5 將麵團放入一個長方形的小容器中，用手指盡量把麵團推貼靠緊邊緣和角落，然後蓋上蓋子，在 20 – 22 °C (68 – 72 °F) 的室溫下放置一個小時。 6 一個小時後，將烤箱預熱至 180°C，然後在兩個烤盤上鋪上烘焙纸並塗油。在工作板上撒上一些中筋麵粉，把麵團倒在上，另外在上方再撒一點麵粉，輕輕地把麵粉塗在麵團上（不需要揉）。保持麵團的形狀，將其翻轉幾次以確保吸乾多餘的水分，直到摸起來乾爽。 7 將麵團在工作板上的所有邊角都拉直。在一個大盤子上撒些麵粉。將麵團量度並切成三段寬度相等的長條，然後將這些長條切成六個大致相等的方塊。將每塊在工作板上四邊滾動以致完全沾上麵粉，然後將它們放在大盤子上，每塊之間留出一些空間。 8 將 2 大匙麵粉舀入深碗中，加入麵團，分批均匀覆蓋；把滚滿麵粉的麵團放在網篩上，以抖掉多餘的麵粉。將所有過了篩的麵團球放回深碗中，加入 2 湯匙油，攪拌均匀。 9 將麵團塊放在兩個塗了油的烤盤上，保持適當的距離，因為它們會在烤箱內膨脹並上升。 10 將烤盤放進烤箱，並設定計時器 7 分鐘。看著麵團塊上升。 7 分鐘後，取出，冷卻 1 分鐘再放回去烤 5 分鐘，膨脹的麵團可能會在此時洩氣，但一旦進回烤箱後，它們會再次稍微膨脹起來。時間到了，從烤箱取出，在準備醬汁時放在一旁備用。 11 在三個不同的小鍋子中分别加入三種不同醬汁的配料。攪拌均勻，放在爐子上用中火上煮沸。煮沸後，每種醬汁中放入 6 塊烤麵筋泡芙。將醬汁以中火重新煮沸，然後蓋上蓋子以小火慢燉 10 分鐘。 12 與此同時，燒開一鍋水，加入 ½ 小匙鹽和 1 大匙油，放進一些綠色蔬菜分批焯一下（我們用的是白菜和嫩莖西蘭花）。在水沸騰後迅速將蔬菜取出以保持鮮亮的顏色，不需要將它們放入冰水浸泡；只需將它們排開在篩網上放涼並瀝乾水分，然後用來作盤上的裝飾，剩下的用作配菜。 13 現在可以把你的注意力放回到麵筋泡芙上了。你可以在此時決定是否需要在糖醋汁中添加一點天然的紅色食用色素，其實就這樣原來色澤就可以的。但我只是為了上桌時三種口味的麵筋在顏色上的對比較鲜明，就加了小小的一丁點。燉麵筋的時間不要超過 10 分鐘。時間一到，關掉爐火，把所有醬汁都端上桌，連同燙過的蔬菜一起裝盤。 14 將三種不同口味的紅燒麵筋放入一個大盤子的中央，然後將綠色蔬菜放在周圍，用一些新鮮的香菜或西洋菜點綴裝飾。 15 就這樣，一盤美麗、充滿懷舊傳統和深受喜愛的素菜，在自己家中就可以成功完成了！