Thanks for your synopsis Hob, and to tiompan for supplying the link - fascinating stuff!

In the Far East, gluten is extracted from wheat flour so that the residue (starch) can be used as a very refined wheat starch paste. The paste is then used in the conservation of pictorial art. The separation process (using water and a machine like a cement mixer) results in a brownish doughy mass (the gluten) and a fine white starch similar to the corn starch you can buy in packets here. Both these products are then made into food stuffs but it's the wheat gluten (<i>fu</i> in Japanese) which is the interesting one. Have just googled fu but haven't found anything yet (other than Kung Fu sites :-)

Let me know if you need any more info on fu and I'll see what I can dig out :-)