Making seitan - wheat meat

16 years ago

I have always wanted to try making seitan and today I finally made my first attempt. The flavor was good but the texture was a bit too soft to my taste. Honestly, I have no ideas how the texture is supposed to be like. I have a couple of recipes for homemade seitan; one for baking and the rest require boiling in broth. I will try the baking recipe next time to see if the texture will be a bit firmer. For those who have experience making seitan please give me some tips. Thanks in advance.

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Comments (5)

althetrainer
Original Author
16 years ago
Ahhh I found my own answer.
lindac
16 years ago
Good thing you found the answer....because I have no idea what seitan is!
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Hi, Glad you asked! ha ha Actually, I made my first "batch" of homemade seitan this week, and it turned out just as good as any of the "wheat meat" products I've ever purchased. I ended up with quite a large batch that will last me for a week or so, for less than 2.00 worth of ingredients, which is SO MUCH cheaper than buying the fresh or frozen products. Best of all, its vegan. I got this recipe off of the Vegan Outreach website; its simple, can be modified to include any seasonings that you like, and turns out GREAT!! Here goes (copied directly from the website with credit given as due)... ____________________________________________________________ Seitan (Basic Boiling Recipe) from Vegan Vittles, Â© J. Stepaniak 1997 Dry ingredients * 1 1/2 C instant gluten flour (vital wheat gluten) * 1/4 C nutritional yeast flakes (optional; adds a deeper flavor and vitamin B-12) * 1/2 t garlic granules (optional; can vary amount) * 1/2 t onion granules (optional; can vary amount) * Desired herbs & spices (optional) Liquid ingredients * 1 C water, vegetable broth, tomato juice, or a combination (the juice adds a "beefier" flavor) * 3 T soy sauce * 1 T olive oil (optional) Simmering broth * 10 C water or vegetable broth * 1/2 C soy sauce (optional) Combine dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Combine liquid ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Pour into dry ingredients, mix well. If there is still flour around the edges, add a small amount of additional water. Knead the gluten directly in the mixing bowl for about a minute. Slice the gluten into 3 relatively equal pieces, and set aside. Place the ingredients for the simmering broth into a 4 1/2 quart saucepan or Dutch oven, add the gluten pieces, and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer with pot partially covered for 1 hr. Maintain the heat so that the liquid barely simmers, and turn the gluten over during cooking. Let cool in broth uncovered. Transfer to storage containers, adding enough of the broth to keep seitan immersed. Seal containers tightly and store in the refrigerator up to ten days or in the freezer for up to six months. To extend the life of fresh or defrosted seitan, boil it in its soy sauce broth for 10 min., 2 times a week. __________________________________________________________ Hope this helps. Sandy Here is a link that might be useful: Vegan Outreach recipes
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grainlady_ks
16 years ago
I'd suggest reading the book, "The Amazing Wheat Book" by LeArta Moulton. All kinds of recipes for using gluten (aka seitan). See if your local library has a copy, or have them get it through Inter-Library Loan.

Along with baking the gluten, as one of the many methods for cooking it, you may want to try the steam method to produce a tighter texture. I use the steamer unit for my double-boiler, or a stainless steel steam basket.

For formed shapes, pepperoni and bologna-type slices, form the raw gluten into a roll shape. Wrap cheese cloth around the gluten and secure it by tying both ends, and the middle if necessary, with a cotton string. Steam 35-40 minutes.

The simmering method is best used when making thin strips (for stir-fry dishes, stroganoff, jerky... Roll out raw gluten on a slightly wetted plastic cutting sheet about 1/4" thick (NOT a Silpat because you have to cut on the surface). Cut with a pizza cutter or knife, into strips.

Drop the raw strips into a flavored boiling broth. Simmer until the broth is gone, about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I like to steam the raw gluten, then slice or tear it into pieces for meat-like chunks. Sliced steamed gluten is used for breaded cutlet-type steaks. Thin-sliced gluten can be used as "chipped beef". The flavored strips can be dried in a food dehydrator or place pieces on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in 350Â°F oven (leave door ajar slightly) until pieces appear dry on top. Turn pieces over and continue to bake until texture is chewy, about 30-45 minutes. This may be the sort of texture you were looking for.

I grind steamed gluten to make "burger", "sausage", meat balls, and a crunchy high-protein cereal-type mix that has all kinds of uses.

Cubed gluten, flavored with beef, chicken, ham, clam, crab, etc., are used added to sauces, soups, stews, sandwich fillings and salads.

For chicken- or fish-like pieces, shred steamed gluten with a fork, or tug it into ragged-shaped pieces with your hands.

If you are making gluten from Vital Wheat Gluten (the quick and easy method), rather than from flour, the seasoning can be added BEFORE it is cooked. When you make gluten from whole wheat flour, you will need to add the seasoning AFTER it has been steamed.

I'd also suggest the DVD (includes a small cookbook) "Quick Wholesome Foods" by Rita Bingham and LeArta Moulton (link below). If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this DVD will help you see how to convert raw gluten into all kinds of things. Besides gluten making, the DVD also includes making whole wheat bread, uses for wheat, 3-minute cheeses from powdered milk, and info. about beans.

I purchase vital wheat gluten from Honeyville Grain - $10.99 for 3.5-pounds: http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/vitalwheatglutencan.aspx

I order a number of things from them, and anything you order will cost a flat shipping rate of $4.49 for the entire order (in...
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
16 years ago
"Posted by lindac
Good thing you found the answer....because I have no idea what seitan is! "

Because of Buddhism, China had a few thousand years of history in perfecting vegetarianism..
It is truly amazing to go to a real Chinese Veggie restaurant.
The infinite varieties of tasty dishes they can make using seitan (invented in China) is mind-boggling. A creative art form in itself.

dcarch
althetrainer
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks Linda, dcarch, especially to Grainlady! I froze the seitan overnight and today I fried a piece in a fry pan to go with my salad dinner. I squeezed some extra water out while frying it on a dry pan. It actually turned out pretty good and I enjoyed it. Think I will make it again. Grainlady, I will follow your advice for my next attempt. The Internet search I did also turned out some very helpful tips. I use VWG because it's very easy to do and I don't think I can handle the hot water requires when using whole wheat flour.

I will try to locate the Amazing Wheat book in our library. Unfortunately, we live in Canada... I have my doubt if I can borrow something from an US library. Shipping from the US to Canada can be very high so I am hoping I can find something here locally. Thanks again.

Making seitan - wheat meat

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althetrainer
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lindac

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Making seitan - wheat meat

Comments (5)

althetrainerOriginal Author

lindac

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grainlady_ks

dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m

althetrainerOriginal Author

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althetrainer
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althetrainer
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