At the table
Serve the shared soup into small bowls, taking both mushroom and gluten. Eat the soft pieces with a spoon or chopsticks and sip the broth after it cools. Ask about the herbal flavor and stock before ordering.
Contains wheat gluten, peanut oil and celery. Stock and garnishes vary; a clear appearance does not identify the stock ingredients. Chinese angelica is a flavoring here, not a promised health treatment.
Contains wheat gluten, peanut oil and celery. Stock and garnishes vary; a clear appearance does not identify the stock ingredients. Chinese angelica is a flavoring here, not a promised health treatment.
GET TO KNOW THE DISH
What goes into it?
Explore some key ingredients below. Preparations may use additional seasonings and ingredients.
Contains wheat gluten, peanut oil and celery. Stock and garnishes vary; a clear appearance does not identify the stock ingredients. Chinese angelica is a flavoring here, not a promised health treatment.
Typical ingredients
Recipes vary by restaurant.
How does it taste?
Banyue chenjiang is a clear soup associated with Xiamen's Nanputuo vegetarian cooking. Dark shiitake mushrooms and pale wheat gluten form contrasting halves. The gluten is soft and springy, with mushroom savoriness and the distinctive herbal aroma of Chinese angelica root.
- Chili heat
- Texture
- Banyue chenjiang is a clear soup associated with Xiamen's Nanputuo vegetarian cooking. Dark shiitake mushrooms and pale wheat gluten form contrasting halves. The gluten is soft and springy, with mushroom savoriness and the distinctive herbal aroma of Chinese angelica root.
- How it’s made
- Wheat gluten is fried in peanut oil, softened in hot water and sliced, then cooked with shiitake mushrooms, winter bamboo shoots, angelica and salt. The ingredients are arranged and steamed, then finished with clear stock, angelica infusion, MSG and celery. Tomato is included in this representative recipe's ingredients.
Contains wheat gluten, peanut oil and celery. Stock and garnishes vary; a clear appearance does not identify the stock ingredients. Chinese angelica is a flavoring here, not a promised health treatment.
A CONNECTION TO PLACE
Origin & regional roots
Associated with Fujian.
About this regional connection
Fujian: Xiamen Nanputuo vegetarian cuisine.
Ask if they have it first
请问你们有半月沉江吗？
Do you have this item?
A LITTLE SOMETHING TO READ
Story & history
Nanputuo mushroom and gluten soup
The name means “half a moon sinking in the river,” evoking the dark mushrooms beside pale gluten. Nanputuo's chef describes its earlier name as angelica-and-gluten soup and associates the poetic name with Guo Moruo's appreciation of its presentation.