Add the wheat gluten to a large bowl and cover it with cold water, then leave to soak for 2 hours until soft. To a separate bowl, add the shiitake mushrooms, dried wood ear mushrooms, dried lily-flower and peanuts. Cover them with cold water and leave to soak for 2 hours as well.

When the gluten is soft, drain it and briefly rinse it under cold water, then squeeze out most of the liquid. Drain the other ingredients but keep their soaking liquid. Drain the bamboo shoots and julienne the ginger.

Heat some oil in a large casserole, wok or frying pan for which you have a lid and fry the bamboo shoots and ginger until the ginger begins to turn golden (2-3 min). Now add the remaining soaked ingredients apart from the gluten and continue to fry it for another 2 minutes. Set everything aside and add a bit more oil to the pan. Then fry the gluten until golden around the edges. Unless you’re using a non-stick pan, it’ll most likely stick to the bottom. Don’t try to loosen it with force as it’ll tear the gluten into smaller pieces. Instead return the set aside ingredients to the pan and pour in the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, the Shaoxing wine, sugar and 750 ml of the reserved soaking liquid. The gluten should now loosen by itself.

Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes, giving it a stir every now and then. After 30 minutes, remove the lid and continue cooking until almost all of the liquid has evaporated (another 15-30 min). If you’re serving it with rice, make sure to cook it now.

Turn off the heat and stir in the sesame oil. Traditionally, Kao Fu is served as a cold appetiser, but you can also eat it warm if you like.