How to Make Mi-Chiya or Mian-Jin 麵筋 or Seitan - Gluten with Peanuts and Mushrooms

 This post is dedicated to Everson Go-Tian.

So, now we are discussing!  Recently, I connected with my classmates from Xavier Batch '83 because of my Humba recipe.  Everson Go Tian, whose mother's version of this dish made an indelible impression in my memory as that experience was sometime when we were in Grade 7 and so we were about 12 or 13 then.  I told him I raved about it and Auntie (i.e. Everson's mom) was so pleased about the fact that her cooking is still etched in one of his son's friend's memory (meaning, mine).   Of course, Jerry Tin, food connoisseur, decided to try the recipe himself and gave me a full report. Needless to say, it was a success and the reviews are awesome.

Mi-Chiya when cooked.

But going back again to Everson, he then mentioned the vegetarian version of this dish called "Mi Jia" (which is pronounced as "Mi -Chjiya" with the second word having the "ch's" blend with a "j") which is literally translated as "Gluten" in Chinese.  In Mandarin, this is known as "Mien-Jin"  (麵筋) with pretty much same kind of pronunciation for the second word combining both Ch- and J-.  He was asking if I know about this dish. 

My Grandmother - Co Bit vda. de Siy
was raised into the Buddhist faith.

I responded, "I know how to make Mi-Chjiya!", sounding very enthusiastic about it since it is a skill and that my maternal grandmother, Co Bit vda. de Siy (1906-1987) used to make it when she was living in Dimasalang ever since she married my grandfather in the 20's.  The reason why I know is that my mother told me about it but unfortunately she never learned the skill probably as a result of certain things: one, the dish is vegetarian and usually associated with Buddhist Chinese cuisine and since my mother grew up and was raised Catholic despite her mother's Buddhist upbringing, they can eat meat galore though she never minded eating it; two, it is usually poor people food in China as a result of needing to find a substitute for meat which was scarce and expensive; and three, my mother was raised by her parents during their boom years and my grandfather was an opulent shipping magnate then so there was no reason not to splurge in the good life.  So with that in mind, "poor people food" never made it as a daily staple. 

This little can of gluten with peanuts
can be bought in Asian stores for USD 2.50!

But Gluten is very much indigenously Chinese just as Tofu and it was devised as a meat substitute as it has the same texture as meat containing a high protein content too.  And if analyzed,  gluten is actually the protein in wheat flour, being in the germ of wheat.  It is what makes flour dough resilient as it is being kneaded making the gasses released by the yeast trapped into air bubbles in bread; thus making it light and airy.  As the dough is being baked, these gases expand making the bread even airier and lighter.  When the crust is formed due to the high heat and broiling bread, the crust acts like a sturdy roof holding the air pockets and leaving them expanded thus accounting for the bread's tough crust with a light chewy center. 

What gluten lacks is flavor very much like Tofu.  So here come the ingenuity of Chinese cooks.  As soy sauce has glutamate produced during the fermentation process accounting for its "umami" (meaning, meaty) flavor; the addition of soy sauce makes the dish more palatable.  Also, peanuts, again noted for its full flavor is very complimentary to the soy sauce resulting in "umami" without harm induced to another living being.  Edwin Go of the Macau Umami Flavors fame, of course, is "Umami" at its carnal best - referring to meat, of course and not the other usual meaning. 

This is a different way of preparing
Mi-Chiya - sauteed with cabbage.

In this recipe, one will see that it is easy how to make Gluten or "Mi-Chjiya".  Initially, when I tried, I thought that it will be impossible since flour mixes with water and as one washes dough in water, it will revert back to its pasty mixture.  I was mistaken.  It involves gallons of running water though but I have a devised a way how to minimize the water wastage.  

How to Make Gluten. 

Ingredients. 

• 1 cup water 
• 1/4 cup soy sauce 
• 2 1/2 to 3 cups of bread flour to make a very stiff dough 

Procedure. 

1. Mix the water and soy sauce together.   
2. Using a very powerful dough mixer (I use a KitchenAid artesian.) and the paddles at a low speed, add the flour 1 cup at a time until it reaches the dough stage - probably 2 1/2 cups.  The dough at this point is wet but it is capable of being handled.  
3. Remove the paddles and switch to the dough kneader attachment.  Continue kneading at a medium speed as the remaining cups of flour are added. You may use only additional and not the whole remaining half cup.  The purpose of this remaining handful of flour is to continue the kneading process as the dough is still wet and sticky. 
4. Once incorporated, turn the speed up to high and the kneading process continues, releasing the gluten in the dough as it becomes resilient. It is normal that the mixer be working on an overdrive thus the motor might smell.  In this case, turn the motor off and you may continue a minute later but most likely the dough is ready anyway.  (This accounts for the need of a strong mixer and not a hand mixer.) 
5. Get a colander which top side hooks can sit on the brim of a bowl.  The bottom of the colander should not touch the bottom of the bowl.  With this setup under the faucet and filled with water, grab a handful of the dough and let it sit on the colander as the fingers knead the dough releasing the starch.  Once the water turns very milky brown, change the water.  One will notice that as the water turns opaque, and one feels the bottom of the bowl, the consistency of the bottom will be similar to that of con starch dissolved in water. 
6. Initially, one will get strands of gluten on the colander but raise the colander from the water bath and continue kneading as these strands begin to clump against each other forming yet another dough without starch.  Do this process for the remaining dough.  The yield of gluten will depend on its content in the flour bought for this purpose.  But in my experience, all this dough will yield approximately a cup or so. 

Fried Mi-Chjia with Peanuts and Mushrooms in Soy Sauce. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup (or more) Mi-Chjia broken into 1/2 inch discs with a thickness of 1/3 inch. 
• 1/2 cup shelled peanuts 
• 1/2 cup brown sugar 
• 1/2 cup light soy sauce 
• 1/2 head garlic, peeled and chopped 
• 1/2 tablespoon five spice powder 
• 1/2 head chopped garlic
• Some dried preserved vegetables if desired: 1/2 cup rehydrated shitake, 1/2 cup rehydrated wood fungus (Auricularia), 1/2 cup rehydrated lotus blossoms 
• Tapioca starch dissolved in water 
• Salt to taste 

Procedure. 

1. With a hot oil in the wok, fry the Mi-Chjia until puffed.  This is a very quick process and one can choose to fry many pieces at a time; however, care should be taken not to drop them all at the same time or else the pieces would stick together leaving a big mess. 
2. Get the gluten puffs an set aside. 
3. Reducing the amount of oil in the wok to 1/8 of a cup, saute the garlic, sugar and the peanuts until they become fragrant and the sugar caramelized. 
4. Add the soy sauce and five spice powder.  Add some water just enough to make a light stew.  At this point, one may choose to add other vegetables such as rehydrated lotus blossoms and shitake mushrooms.  Thicken with a water starch mixture if desired.