I’m sure I posted somewhere-or-another about this stuff, but I had a hankerin’ for it and made it again, so I’m posting about it again.
[Note: I just poked around, and I posted about my first and failed attempt on my old WEBLAHG here and about the second round of the same dish here. I also posted about it twice at Fatal Foodies, here and again here.]
Seitan, in case you don’t know, is made from vital wheat gluten, the protein part of wheat. It’s vegan, high in protein, and lowish in calories. Made properly, it’s very meaty. I have learned to make it properly.
First, go get some vital wheat gluten. Do not, no matter what you read on the interwebz, think you can make good seitan using bread flour or high-gluten flour.
SEITAN
- equal amounts of vital wheat gluten and water
- herbs and spices
- pinch or so of nutritional yeast, if desired
And that’s it.
Mix it together, adding more gluten, if necessary, and knead it until it’s elastic. Mish it out and cut it as you want it: into cutlets, cubes, or whatever.
Bring lots of water to a boil. Flavor the water with broth, bouillon, miso, or whatever. Drop the seitan into the water. Let it boil for about an hour. Yes, an hour. Stay close and check often, because you’ll have to add water as it boils away.
Cool it and use it as desired.
Okay, here is what it looked like after I’d mixed it and boiled it in Not Chick’N bouillon. It looks pretty nasty, doesn’t it? It smelled pretty nasty, too.
But I dredged it in seasoned flour and fried it in garlic-infused olive oil and served it over jasmine rice and OH MY, WAS IT EVER GOOD!
We’re pretty light eaters, and one cup of the gluten has made enough for two full meals for both of us, and there’s still some left. I might try making some teriyaki with what’s left, or I might have it over noodles.
I’m thinking sometime I might make some with sausage-y herbs and spices.
Anyway, I likes it! Charlie likes it, too. A happy change from my earlier attempts, let me tell ya!
A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: A character is determined to do something reasonably well after several initial failures.
MA
