noun
tube-shaped wheat gluten cake
A Japanese food made from wheat flour, shaped like a tube (similar to chikuwa fish cake), often used in oden.
おでんにちくわぶを入れると、だしを吸っておいしくなる。
When you put chikuwabu in oden, it absorbs the broth and becomes delicious.
Compound of 竹輪 (chikuwa, 'tube-shaped fish cake') and 麩 (fu, 'wheat gluten'), referring to its tube-like shape and wheat-based composition.