Chef Takumi
Daitokuji Nattō (大徳寺納豆, Kyoto salt-fermented soybeans)
This is nattō without the strings: soybeans turned by kōji, salt, and time into black glossy beads, so strong that three beans can season a bowl of rice.
Culinary Explorer
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Simmered Wheat-Gluten Cakes (大徳寺麩, Daitokuji Fu)
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Daitokuji fu looks like a serious temple secret, then gives itself away: soak the wheat gluten well, simmer it gently in sweet shōyu, and let it rest until the seasoning reaches the center.
Side Dishes
Japanese
Make Ahead
Dinner Party
Special Occasion
15 min
Active Time
35 min cook•1 hr 20 min total
Yield4 servings
Fu is wheat gluten, and that plain sentence frightens more cooks than it should. In Daitokuji fu, the gluten is not pretending to be meat. It is being itself: springy, absorbent, a little stubborn until you teach it to drink. The dish looks dark and severe on the plate, very Kyoto in its refusal to flatter you, but the work is simple.
The first detail is water. Dried fu must be soaked all the way to the center, then pressed gently so stale soaking water leaves and the dashi can enter. If you simmer a dry core in shōyu, the outside becomes salty before the middle has learned anything. Give sugar and mirin a short head start, add the shōyu after, and keep the pot quiet under an otoshibuta, a drop-lid. It seasons evenly without stirring, which would tear the pieces.
This belongs to shōjin ryōri, the temple cooking of Kyoto, so I use konbu and dried shiitake dashi here. That is honmono, not a lesser version; the temple table knows how much depth sits in kelp and a mushroom when you don't bully them. Serve it warm or at room temperature beside rice, greens, and soup. Make it ahead if you can. The rest is where the color turns mahogany and the spring returns.
Daitokuji is a Rinzai Zen temple in northern Kyoto founded in 1315 by Shūhō Myōchō, later honored as Daitō Kokushi. The monastery became closely tied to shōjin ryōri, Buddhist vegetarian cooking, and to the tea culture that gathered around Kyoto's Zen temples in the Muromachi and Momoyama periods. Daitokuji fu belongs to that setting: wheat gluten used as a springy, sustaining food, then simmered dark with soy and sugar so a small piece could carry a bowl of rice.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
dried Daitokuji fu cakes
Quantity
8 pieces (about 80 to 100g)
lukewarm water
Quantity
4 cups
for soaking the fu
konbu (dried kelp)
Quantity
1 piece (about 10g)
dried shiitake mushrooms
Quantity
3 mushrooms (about 12g)
cold water
Quantity
2 1/2 cups
for dashi
sugar
Quantity
2 tablespoons
mirin
Quantity
2 tablespoons
shōyu (Japanese soy sauce)
Quantity
3 tablespoons
kinome leaves (optional)
Quantity
4
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| dried Daitokuji fu cakes | 8 pieces (about 80 to 100g) |
| lukewarm waterfor soaking the fu | 4 cups |
| konbu (dried kelp) | 1 piece (about 10g) |
| dried shiitake mushrooms | 3 mushrooms (about 12g) |
| cold waterfor dashi | 2 1/2 cups |
| sugar | 2 tablespoons |
| mirin | 2 tablespoons |
| shōyu (Japanese soy sauce) | 3 tablespoons |
| kinome leaves (optional) | 4 |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide shallow saucepan
- •Wooden drop-lid (otoshibuta), or a parchment circle
- •Fine-mesh strainer
Instructions
- 1
Make shōjin dashi
Wipe the konbu with a damp cloth, but don't wash it; the pale bloom is flavor, not dirt. Put the konbu and dried shiitake in 2 1/2 cups cold water for at least 30 minutes, or overnight in the refrigerator. Warm the pan slowly over low heat and lift out the konbu just before the water boils, when small bubbles climb the sides. Boiled konbu gives a bitter, slippery edge. Simmer the shiitake 5 minutes more, then strain. You need about 2 cups dashi.
The slow steep pulls sweetness from the konbu and depth from the shiitake without clouding the stock. Temple dashi is patient food. - 2
Soak the fu
Cover the Daitokuji fu with plenty of lukewarm water and set a small plate on top so every piece stays under. Soak 10 to 15 minutes, until the centers have no hard spot when pressed. Drain, rinse once in fresh water, and press each piece gently between your palms. You're not wringing laundry. A little water left inside keeps the gluten supple; pressing only makes room for seasoned dashi.
If the center is still dry, the seasoning will stop at the surface. Soak first, season second. The order saves the dish. - 3
Start sweet simmer
In a wide saucepan, combine the dashi, sugar, and mirin. Add the fu in a single layer and bring to a quiet simmer. Lay an otoshibuta, a wooden drop-lid, directly on the surface, or use a parchment circle with a small hole in the center. Simmer 10 minutes. Sugar moves in slowly, so it gets its turn before the salt in the shōyu tightens the surface.
- 4
Add the shōyu
Pour the shōyu around the edge of the pot, not straight onto one piece, then continue simmering gently under the drop-lid for 20 to 25 minutes. Turn the fu once by lifting and setting it down, not stirring. Hard boiling toughens the edges and reduces the sauce before the center is seasoned. The pieces are ready when they are mahogany-dark, glossy, and spring back when nudged, with only a few spoonfuls of liquid left.
- 5
Rest in glaze
Take the pot off the heat and spoon the remaining glaze over the fu. Leave it in the pot 30 minutes, or cool it completely if you're making it ahead. As the gluten cools, the seasoning settles through the center; this is why a rushed piece tastes salty outside and shy inside.
- 6
Serve restrained
Serve warm or at room temperature in small portions, two pieces per person, with a kinome leaf if you have it. Spoon a little glaze over the top and stop there. This is a dark, quiet side dish; pile it up and it loses its dignity.
Chef Tips
- •Buy Daitokuji fu from a Kyoto or Japanese grocer when you can. Kuruma-fu or another thick dried yaki-fu will cook nicely, but it is a stand-in, not Daitokuji fu; say so and the table stays honest.
- •Use shōjin dashi for this temple dish: konbu and dried shiitake, clear and patient. Katsuobushi dashi tastes wonderful, but it shifts the dish away from the temple kitchen.
- •Do not chase the dark color with a hard boil. Time, shōyu, and rest make the mahogany; high heat only makes the gluten tough at the edge.
- •This is better the next day. The texture firms, the glaze settles, and the flavor becomes quieter, which is very often the direction Japanese food is trying to go.
Advance Preparation
- •The konbu and shiitake can soak overnight in the refrigerator for a rounder shōjin dashi.
- •Finished Daitokuji fu keeps 4 days refrigerated in its glaze. Bring it to room temperature, or rewarm it gently over low heat.
- •For a dinner party, make it the day before and spoon the glaze over again just before plating.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 145g)
Calories
135 calories
Total Fat
1 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
1 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
780 mg
Total Carbohydrates
24 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
8 g
Protein
7 g
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