Today I am going to show you how I make seitan! For those of you who are not familiar with seitan, it is a vegan meat alternative made from wheat gluten, which is a product of wheat flour. In my opinion, seitan is an awesome alternative to meat and here is why:
1. It is low in fat and carbohydrates!
2. It has 31 grams of protein per 3oz serving!!!! That is more than chicken or steak!
3. Move over steak, there is a new source of iron in town and it goes by the name seitan!
4. It is cholesterol free!
4. It has a more meaty texture and flavor than tofu and can be substituted for the meat in your favorite recipe with great results.
5. It is so easy to make at home and is endlessly versatile! You can make cutlets (as I will show you today) to use in stir-frys, curries, or stews. It can be baked, fried, boiled, or sautéed. You can make a denser seitan that can be used as a subsitute for pepperoni or salami and is great in sandwiches (a recipe I will show you in another post).
6. It is so much healthier for you, the planet, and the animals than meat!
Pre-made seitan is available for purchase at your local health food store for about five dollars a package, but why spend that much money when you can easily make it at home for a fraction of the cost!
Here is what you will need to start making seitan at home: olive oil, nutritional yeast, soy sauce (or tamari, or nama shoyu, or braggs liquid aminos, you get the picture), garlic powder, vital wheat gluten flour, and veggie broth. If you are like me, you will start to measure out your ingredients into a bowl before you realize you have no veggie broth! That is ok! You can do what I did and dissolve a tablespoon of miso paste in water or just use filtered water instead.
The first thing you need to prepare is the broth that you will be cooking your seitan in. For the broth you need to boil six cups of veggie broth with three tablespoons soy sauce. Put it in a big pot and bring it to a boil while mixing the ingredients for the seitan.
To make the seitan, mix all the ingredients in the bowl and kneed with your hands until the dough is elastic. The picture on the left shows seitan before it has been kneaded and the picture on the right shows the seitan after it has been kneaded.
Once your seitan has been kneaded to desired elasticity, plop it on the counter and attempt to shape it into a log. It will resist and end up looking like a lumpy piece of sh— and that is ok! Cut your piece of sh— into 6 pieces and then using your hand attempt to flatten and stretch these pieces into cutlets. I had pictures of the last two steps but accidentally deleted them. DOH!
Pour your hot broth into a glass baking dish and place all six cutlets in the broth. Carefully place the baking dish into an oven that has been preheated to 350degF and bake the seitan for 30minutes. Using tongs carefully turn the seitan cutlets over and bake for another 20 minutes.
Seitan cutlets can be used immediately but I have found that if you store them in the fridge overnight (in an airtight container, covered in broth) they firm up nicely and are much easier to cut, saute, fry, or whatever you plan to do with them.
What is your favorite way to use seitan? Or if you have never used it before what recipe would you want to try it in for the first time?
Homemade Seitan Cutlets
Based on a recipe from Veganomicon
Vegan, Dairy Free, Soy Free
Makes 6 cutlets
Broth:
6 cups veggie broth (or sub miso broth in a pinch)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
Cutlets;
1 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/2 cup vegetable broth (or sub miso broth or just plain water)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1. Preheat oven to 350degF.
2. Prepare the broth by boiling the veggie broth and soy sauce in a large pot. Once boiling, turn off heat and cover pot with a lid to keep warm.
3. To make the seitan add all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until combined.
4. Using your hands, knead the dough until elastic, about three minutes.
5. Place the dough on a countertop and form into a log.
6. Cut the log into six pieces and shape each piece into a flat cutlet.
7. Pour the hot broth into a large glass baking dish and place the cutlets in the broth.
8. Bake for thirty minutes, turn cutlets over and bake for another twenty minutes.
9. Remove from oven and for best results, store the cutlets in an airtight container covered in broth overnight before using them.
