Basic Seitan
This recipe from my dearest friend Maria — which she adapted from a recipe, which was adapted from another recipe — is my go-to. It’s tried and true for me and makes a great base seitan for some of the recipes in this book. Seitan is high in protein and minerals while being low in fat. A three-ounce serving contains between 15-20 grams of protein. And the best part is that you can play around with the flavour.
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
1 ½ cup vital wheat gluten (Bob’s Red Mill is a good one, but your local bulk store will have options too)
½ cup white flour
1 teaspoon paprika (or smoked paprika if you have it)
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
Wet ingredients
1 cup (or slightly under 1 cup) vegetable stock (or water if you don’t have stock on hand)
4 tablespoons soy sauce, Bragg or tamari
2 tablespoons liquid smoke
Directions
Combine all ingredients and knead until a dough is formed.
Knead the dough for about 3-4 minutes, let it rest for 10 minutes, and then knead it again for another 2 minutes. The longer you knead the dough, the chewier your final seitan will be. If you want a slightly more tender seitan, knead it for a shorter period of time, or skip the second round of kneading altogether.
Add extra moisture as needed, water or stock will do. The dough should go from sticky to a firm dough that has a bit of elasticity to it.
Let the dough rest for at least 20 minutes, or until you’re ready to use it. Keep it covered so it doesn’t dry out.
This basic seitan can do and be different things depending on how you cook it.
Fry it = crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle. I use this method for Browned Stew with Dumplings (see page XX).
Bake it = spongy yet tough. You can then baste and pop on the barbeque or you could also fry it after it’s been baked and eliminate that chewier version noted above.
Simmer it = tender. Takes about 45-75 minutes to cook this way and make sure to simmer your seitan in broth because you want to always flavour the seitan inside and out. Simmering is used to prep the Fried Seitan Chick’n (see page XX) or the Schnitzel (see page XX) before coating and frying in fat.
Steam it = firm and chewy. This technique is used for Ham (see page XX) and the Stuffed Seitan Roast (page XX). Also, if making grain sausage or seitan sausage, you’ll find most recipes call for you to shape the dough into the form you’re looking for using cheese cloth or tin foil and then steaming it until it’s cooked through. Then you can fry, bake, or slice.
