Praise Seitan!

Fed up of your usual processed faux meat? Then making your own seitan may be for you! Seitan or Wheat Gluten is a protein source that has been made for centuries in the far east originally for Buddhist monks who didn't eat meat. Traditionally you would wash the starch from flour (a process which takes a couple of days) and use the remaining gluten to make your seitan. For those of us with less time you can buy vital wheat gluten (I got mine online) which has already had the starch removed. 

The recipe I've used is by Isa Chandra Moskowitz of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World Fame, from Vegan with a Vengeance

Ingredients:

225g vital wheat gluten flour

4 tbsps nutritional yeast

2 tbsps plain flour

250ml cold water or vegetable stock

125ml soy sauce

1 tbsp tomato puree

2 cloves garlic

1 tbsp olive oil 

1 tsp finely grated lemon zest

Stock

3 litres water or vegetable stock 

120ml soy sauce

Mix together the vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast and plain flour in one bowl and the remaining seitan ingredients in another bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and combine 

Knead the dough for 5 mins until spongy and elastic 

While the dough rests put the cold ingredients for the stock into a pan. Roll the dough into a log shape 10in (25cm) long. 

Cut into 6 equal (ish) sized pieces

Place into the stock and bring to the boil, lower the temperature and allow to simmer for an hour.

Once it is cooked allow to cool completely to make a firmer texture

Slice the seitan however you want, I usually do half cutlets and half cubes for different uses. You can now prepare the seitan however you want, fry, grill, bake, batter, the choice is yours!

The seitan will last for 5 days and should always be stored in stock in the fridge.

I baked my first cutlets and smothered in Worcester Sauce Glaze from Marks and Spencer

So it really is that easy! You can add herbs and spices into your seitan when you make it for different flavours. There are a multitude of recipes online and in bookshops on how to use seitan in your cooking. I hope you enjoy making seitan and leave the processed chemical-filled faux meats in the supermarket.

Until next time Vegheads

Vgirl Xx