VEGAN: Seitan
He whose name must not be spoken...
I recently learned: how to make Seitan, or wheatmeat, which is a meat
substitute that is both delicious and extremely economical. Seitan is
somewhat of a staple in Japanese cooking, and is just another name for
wheat gluten, which is basically nothing but protein and fiber.
To make Seitan, you need a big bowl, some whole wheat flour, and water.
I find that four cups of flour will produce enough Seitan for several
sandwiches, or one major meal. Mix about 1.5-2 cups of water in with the
flour until the water is absorbed and you get a big ball of dough. Punch
the dough really well for several minutes.
Next, put your glob of dough back in the bowl and cover it with cold water.
Let it sit for 10-15 minutes, and then knead it gently. Be careful at this
point, to keep the dough from disintegrating. What you are doing here is
kneading the starch and bran out of the flour, leaving only the gluten behind,
which will be quite rubbery in texture. After you are done kneading, care-
fully pour off the startchy water. It may be saved as an excellent thickener
for soups and stews.
Carefully cover the dough with warm water this time, let it sit for 10-15
minutes again, and knead out the starch underwater as before. Overall, you
should go through about six rinses, alternating between cold and hot water.
When you are done, you should have an extremely resilient ball of gluten
(which at this point looks rather like a rubbery brain or something). Pull
off small balls, patties, or whatever of the gluten and stretch them out
under running water to rinse out any bran which remains.
Drop the balls of gluten in boiling water until they rise to the top like
dumplings. When this is done, you now are ready to cook your Seitan
masterpiece. The other wonderful thing about Seitan is that it is very
good at absorbing the flavors of whatever it is cooked in, and will be quite
flavorful if you let it simmer for a nice long time. After boiling, I cut my
little balls into bite-sized pieces and simmered them in a stock containing
about 1/4 cup soy sauce, oregano, garlic salt, and crushed red pepper (my
favorite hot & spicy touch). In general, any seasoning that goes well with
beef will go well with Seitan. A dash of Worcestershire sauce is nice,
though it is made with anchovies, so vegans be warned.
After cooking for at least an hour, the Seitan may be refrigerated for
about a week, kept in the stock it was cooked in. For something simple
to try your creation, make Seitan subs on a hero roll, with lettuce, tomato,
and mayo. I have heard of everything from sandwiches to Beef Bourgionone(sp?)
being made with Seitan, and a creative cook should have no problems finding
lots of yummy uses for this glutenous wonder-food.
Anyway, enjoy... I'd love to see any recipes that those more accomplished
than I have come up with using Seitan...
Michelle Renee Dick
He whose name must not be spoken... <dwal...@wam.umd.edu> wrote:
>A dash of Worcestershire sauce is nice,
>though it is made with anchovies, so vegans be warned.
Anchovies are not only not vegan, but they are not even vegetarian,
and thus traditional Worcestershire sauce is outside the scope of
rec.food.veg.cooking.
However there are several vegetarian brands of Worcestershire sauce on
the market. One brand is Life brand, available in both the US and the
UK. I'm not too fond of the vegetarian Worcestershire sauces on the
market and prefer instead to substitute Lea and Perrins Steak Sauce
(diluted 1:1 with water).
As for tips on making and cooking gluten, I consider Barbara and
Leonard Jacobs' book _Cooking with Seitan_ to be the best guide.
Their recipe for seitan pepperoni is quite good.
Other books on making and cooking gluten are:
Moulton, LeArta. _The New Gluten Book_. (self published: LeArta
Moulton, 509 E. 2100 N., Provo, UT 84604).
Bates, Dorothy and Colby Wingate. _Cooking with Gluten and Seitan_.
Book Publishing Company. 1993
Burke, Abbot George. _Simply Heavenly_. Saint George Press. 1991
The last is huge vegan cookbook (heavy on oils and nuts) that has very
long detailed sections on making beef, pork, poultry, and seafood
substitutes using gluten.
--
Michelle Dick
art...@rahul.net
Karen Edge
but so labor-intensive. Can one purchase prepared SEITAN at an Asian grocery
store?
With all the soaking and kneading in water plus boiling, are there any
vitamins left in SEITAN?
Richard L Barnaby
The Vitamins in Seitan are not the major Draw. What we are after is the Gluten
which in wheat is anywhere between 6 and 18 percent, and in Seitan, is
between 66 and 95% (Depending on how much starch is left in).
I have bought it in LA in Asian Groceries *Very cheap* (about a buck per
1 pound). In Health Food stores it is *much more* I've seen 6-7 dollars
per pound. The health food stores will tell you that theirs is a certain
*quality*, and they are probably right, however I've always felt that
*quantity* has a *quality* all its own. :-).
Richard Barnaby bar...@world.std.com
Worcester, Vermont
Michael Dennis Melez
In article <EDGE.94Fe...@corona.med.utah.edu>,
I can't answer your question RE:vitamins but you can definitely
purchase prepared seitan. I get mine at a natural foods store but I'm
sure an Asian grocery would also have some. There are different kinds
however, and in my experience different brands have some very
different textures and tastes.
It is rather expensive to buy it prepared, so to cut down on the cost
you might want to try buying a mix, or making it yourself from high
gluten flour, thus avoiding all the steps in the recipe recently
posted that were taken to separate the gluten from the rest of the
flour.
The only mix I know of is Brother Ron Pickarski's Seitan Quick Mix
from Arrowhead Mills, Inc. After I purchased one box of the stuff I
realized the only listed ingredients were vital wheat gluten, organic
stone ground whole wheat flour, and teff flour! When I make it myself
from scratch I usually use all high gluten flour, although sometimes I
add a little whole wheat and teff flour.
With gluten flour, use the recipe previously posted, cutting out the
part involving kneading the dough under water, or use the following
recipes from the back of the Brother Ron Pickarski's Seitan Quick Mix
box:
For 14 oz. For 20 oz.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Seitan Mix [Gluten Flour] 1 1/3 cup 2 cups
Water 1 cup 1 1/2 cup
Add the Seitan Quick Mix [gluten flour] to water in mixing bowl.
Stir, then knead until thoroughly mixed and elastic (about 5 min.).
Form dough into a 2 1/2-inch roll and let rest 5 min. while preparing
broth.
For 14 oz. For 20 oz.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Water 6 cups 2 quarts
Tamari Sauce 1/3 cup 1/2 cup
Ginger Powder 3/4 tsp. 1 tsp.
kombu (optional) 1 stick 2 sticks
Microwave method: 45 minutes cooking time
Flatten and stretch dough into irregular shape, 1/2-inch thich. Cut
dough into 8 rectangular pieces. Place Seitan and broth in pot.
Bring to a boil. Simmer 30 min. Transfer pieces into microwave-safe
bowl. Add enough broth to cover well. Cover loosely and microwave on
HIGH for 7 1/2 min. Turn pieces over (adding more broth if necessary
to cover well). Cover loosely and microwave on HIGH for another 7 1/2
minutes. Serve.
Traditional Method: 2 hours cooking time
Flatten and stretch dough into irregular shape, 1/2-inch thick. Cut
dough into 8 irregular pieces. Place Seitan in broth and bring to a
boil. Simmer for two hours. Serve.
Long Cook Method: 4 hours cooking time
Leave dough in log form. Place Seitan in broth and bring to a boil.
Simmer for 2 hrs. Add 3 more cups water to broth. Simmer for another
2 hours. (This cooking method produces a firm Seitan that will pick
up the flavor of the sauces to be added later).
Quick Fry/Grill Seitan: 10 minutes cooking time
1 1/3 cup Seitan Quick Mix [gluten flour]
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. ginger powder
dash of cayenne pepper
2 tbsp. tamari soy sauce
7/8 cup water (room temp.)
Mix dry ingredients in bowl. Add tamari soy sauce to 7/8 cup water to
make a full cup. Stir liquid mixture into dry mixture. Knead dough
until elastic (about 5 min.). Flatten and stretch into irregular
shape, 1/2-inch thich. Cut into 16 rectangular pieces. Fry pieces in
medium hot oil (1-inch deep) or grill on oiled grill until lightly
browned on both sides (about 5 min. total). Place browned pieces of
Seitan into a preheated pot of simmering water for 5 min. Remove and
drain. Serve with additional tamari soy sauce, tamari gravy (See
enclosed recipe booklet) [not enclosed in this post :-)], or
teriyaki sauce.
If it's your first time making Seitan, I'd recommend buying the mix to
see what the texture of the seitan should be. That way, if you later
experiment with different kinds of flour you'll know what you should
be shooting for. In my experience it doesn't take much non-gluten
flour to make your dough fall apart, so if you're experimenting try
using very small amounts of other flours or make little test globs.
--
- Myk.
Robbie Felix
knead and boil/simmer/grill or whatever.
I use it becasue I have purchased the *wrong* gluten flour sevral
times and gotten some pretty weird stuff at the end of the process
that definitely wasn't seitan!
The prepared seitan from the health food store is usually about 3.50
for about 12 ozs. The prepared is about 3.50 for several pounds. It is
easy to prepare from a mix and then use in your favorite recipes. I
marinate thin strips in jerk sauce overnight and broil. It is the most
wonderful sandwqich material this side of heaven!
rf
Diane L. Olsen
ed...@corona.med.utah.edu (Karen Edge) wrote:
>
> The recipe for SEITAN that dwal...@wam.umd.edu posted looks very interesting
> but so labor-intensive. Can one purchase prepared SEITAN at an Asian grocery
> store?
Yes. Alternately, you can buy some powdered "vital wheat gluten," mix it
with water to form a dough, divide it into balls, and skip to the boiling
step in the seitan-making recipe.
--Diane
Diane L. Olsen This message printed on 100% recycled electrons
Word Witch
General Magic, Inc.
dia...@genmagic.com