[intro theme playing]
GLUTEN
[instrumental music playing]
[narrator] October.
The Euphrates poplar forestis gold in color.
JINTA COUNTY, JIUQUAN, GANSU
The Hexi District welcomes late autumn.
LÜ FENGBIN
Lü Fengbin just finishedhalf a day’s work.
Three kilometers from here, his wife,Deng Fenglan, is preparing lunch.
Deng Fenglan is makinga common staple food in Jinta households.
It’s called gluten.
It has a sponge-like texturethat’s very elastic
with holes like a beehive.
It can absorb different kinds of foodand bring rich flavor.
It’s the most idealflavor storage material.
DENG FENGLAN
SPINACH WITH GLUTEN
PUMPKIN GLUTEN SOUP
Locals dry them under the sun so thatthe gluten can be completely air-dried.
This way, they can be storedfor a long period of time.
Once gluten is placed in water,it’s immediately rejuvenated.
When cooked with native chicken,the gluten becomes soft
and fully absorbs the deliciousand rich flavor of chicken soup.
CHICKEN GLUTEN STEW
Today, the couple will makethe last batch of gluten
before the winter comes.
Flour and waterare all the raw materials they need.
Knead the dough that is very firmand sticky on the surface.
This is the first step in making gluten.
Add a lot of water.
Then, stir and pull on it repeatedly.
The gluten slowly separatesfrom the flour.
Starch water keeps filtering out…
…until all the starch is washed away.
In the end, we get fresh gluten.
Fresh gluten can be eatendirectly after steaming.
But at some places in Gansu,people will process it further.
After washing the gluten,add them into the dough again.
WANG XINGBING
Knead it repeatedly
and you’ll get a combinationof gluten and flour noodles.
ZHANGYE, GANSU
Gaotai County.
People view glutenas the essence of wheat.
They’re willing to spendmore time and energy on it.
This shop,hidden in a residential building,
specially makes gluten noodles.
This is what gluten isfor the people in Gaotai.
HUANG JINMEI
Gaotai gluten is extremely elastic.
But too much elasticity makes it hardto form the dough by hand.
A tool made from wicker must be used.
Bizi.
Within 15 seconds, the dough,around the size of a fist,
is swiftly pulled to half a meterin diameter, and forms a thin pancake
less than one millimeter thick.
Forty bizis are placedon top of one another.
Wicker bizis transforminto natural steamers.
After 30 minutes,the gluten is fully cooked.
Even if they’re just as thin as paper,their texture remains elastic.
They can take repeated pulling.
Place flaxseed oil on fresh and softGaotai gluten to make it more delectable.
Cut them into strips, and you’ll havetheir local daily staple food.
It has a rich aroma of wheat and it givesa unique texture in your mouth.
They can be paired with differentkinds of snacks and main dishes.
PORK STRIPS WITH GREEN PEPPER AND GLUTEN
LAMB WITH CUMIN AND GLUTEN
Of course, the people in Gaotaicannot be satisfied with just fresh food.
After gluten loses its moisture and dries,they harden and their shapes are set.
Add them to boiling oil,and they immediately bloom.
Air holes burst on their surfaceand the texture becomes crispy.
Add them to soup and their holeswill be filled with the liquid.
They become rich and smooth in texture.
JIUQUAN, GANSU
The same dough with fresh glutenis handled differently in Jiuquan.
This is a specialty snackthat can only be found in Jiuquan.
Huguo.
Brown and soft gluten is its essence.
Before dawn, Xia Shangguo needs to startmaking the gluten for the day.
The dough is undergoing transformation.
Carbon dioxide is gradually produced,and bubbles are formed.
[Xia Shangguo] This looks like a beehive.
[narrator] Based on the air holesproduced,
he can tellif it has completely fermented or not.
His wife, Zhou Dongmei, isresponsible for the soup base.
Use the remaining starch water from washing the gluten
as a thickener for the soup.
This is how the name huguo came about.
Various spices are added to form its spicy soup base.
Brown syrup makes the soup baselook like the amber color.
The fully fermented doughis extremely elastic.
It takes a lot of effort to pull the doughand to place it evenly on the tray.
Unlike Gaotai’s steaming method,the people of Jiuquan use an oven.
The air holes start to expandin high heat.
Its surface dries and turns brownishin color, producing the aroma of grains.
Baked gluten becomes loose in texture.
They look like toast.
It’s tender and a bit crispyon the outside,
and soft and warm on the inside.
In Xia Shangguo’s huguo shop,gluten is the most popular item.
-[woman] Do you want some gluten?-[man] Sure. It’s great.
[narrator] Place the ingredientsin the soup in their proper order.
The gluten is the last to go in.
It’s smooth and light.
Because of the special texture of gluten,it doesn’t get soggy.
It becomes full of soup instead,and it absorbs its spicy flavor.
This is the proud breakfast of championsin Jiuquan.
The people of Gansu’s love for gluten
is not only due to its mesmerizing textureand flavor,
it’s also because of the ingenuity and the effort put into making it.
It’s still presentafter wheat was introduced to the East
thousands of years ago.
[instrumental music fades out]
[end theme playing]