Dragonfly's Vegan Ribs

[baypuppy]

these are super tasty, even without the tahini on them (i as out of it last night but have made them the "right" way before). my non-vegan friend really likes them and will request "ribbies" when i cook for her! i mix them with bbq sauce in a pan until lightly coated and then heat them up on the stove to let the bbq flavor soak in some

[nicklamon]

I really liked these.  They really puffed up big when I baked them, but then they deflated to a normal size after flipping.  I'll be making these again!

[Duckalucky]

These are luscious and such a fast way to make a tasty seitan!  I'm going to be eating these once or twice a week.  They're addictive... I may have to make half batches, as my husband and I could not leave them alone and kept bringing each other "just one more" all evening (there's just the two of us.) Don't leave out the tahini... it gives these a richness and a very authentic-rib kind of texture in the bite and it smells so heavenly while they're baking.

I gave these a try last night to complement leftover blackeyed peas and mustard greens.  Made some coleslaw and had a real comfort food extravaganza!  I'm a lots-of-sauce person but I merely daubed one side of these with a 50/50 mix of commercial barbecue sauce and tomato puree, and they turned out so delicious I couldn't bear to smother them in more. Mmm!

The recipe makes four WHOPPING servings, and I can see that it could easily feed six.  It fed us at dinner, was the treat we were nibbling all evening, and will be a part of lunch today.

My oven is being chancy ever since I cleaned it (although I think it's finally fixed as of last night!) so I don't know if it's to blame, but the cooking times needed to make the "ribs" golden and crunchy/chewy were about 10 minutes longer per side than listed-- no biggie, as I was not in any rush.

The whimsical part of me wants to twist loooong triangles of this into "wing" shapes and use Buffalo Wing sauce on them after they're crisp/chewy.  Is that perverse of me?

[veganbeing]

Wow, what a great idea!  I've tried seitan recipes before... but they've always been either too chewy or too gooey.  I LOVE this one!

I added 1 tbsp of Dr. Fuhrman's veggie zest seasoning, 1 veggie bouillion cube and 1 tbsp of red pepper to the gluten before mixing in the water.  And you are right - just a little sauce makes it taste amazing.  And I stretched and kneaded between my fingers each piece of seitan before laying it in the pan.  It came out with a great texture!  Crunchy on the outside and textured and spicy on the inside.  I cooked them until they almost burned.  Perfect!

My husband thought these were still chewy - and prefers Gardenburger's Riblets.  (And I think the riblets are too soft and gooey!)  Does anybody have a softer gluten recipe that I can try for him? 

Great recipe!

[Duckalucky]

If you add a couple tablespoons of whole wheat flour, it will soften the batch slightly-- at least that's what happens when I poach it.

I made these again and added a couple teaspoonfuls of jerk spice paste along with the liquid.  If you like spicy food, it's a really worthwhile modification-- make sure your daubing/basting sauce is compatible!

[rhetcompgirl]

These were so amazing!! I can't give enough praise. They were even better the next night sliced thinly on sandwiches (crusty bread, tomatoes, and lots of veganaise).

[secondbase]

the thin ones were much better tasting than the thicker ones, so i think next time i'll just make them all very thin. i ate these like there was no tomorrow... then i came home drunk that night and ate them cold on whole wheat bread with some dijon mustard and avocado. i did, however, forget to put the nutritional yeast in until after i had them in the oven, so i sprinkled some on top when they were finished. i'm sure they would be even better with the NY inside!~

[KT22A]

thank you for making my first attempt at homemade seitan a good one.  I love the tahini.  some ribs managed to survive for 5 days and then went bad.  (weren't in the fridge, though.)  when they're cooled, they're like jerky!  yum.  at first, the gluten wasn't soaking up the water; it just got waterlogged, like a sponge leaking water.  so, I kept adding whole wheat flour, probably two cups in all, and kneaded like mad until it finally became more like a dough.  the end result was heaven.

[gi_julie]

Everybody liked these so much, that I was really excited to make them.  It was also my first time with seitan.  Well.....I just really didn't like them at all.  Very rubbery.  I have no idea if I did something wrong or what.  I did noticed that the thinnest ones were best, but I found it practically impossible to make thin slices as the dough was just too doughy.  I used the full amount of water...maybe too much?  I did noticed that they didn't puff up a lot in the oven as they were cooking, like some others mentioned.  I used "gluten flour" which I posted about in Q&A and I've been assured it is the same as vital wheat gluten.  I've still got the leftovers in the fridge, determined not to let them be wasted.  Perhaps the sandwich idea can salvage this?

[taraja]

Have been wanting to make these, but have questions.  Is the broth liquid or powder?  And the tomato bouillon, liquid or powder?  Is there a substitute for the bouillon, as I don't have any and am not sure where to get that?  Thanks!

[ramabanana]

I don't know if I did something wrong or what, but I was disappointed with these. It was like eating rubbery bread with bar-b-q sauce on it. It was too wet, so I worked some flour into it. Could i have put too much water in the first place? then too much flour??  I've about given up on seitan; this was my 2nd time trying to make it and both times it was almost inedible.

[dodo]

I once used flour in with the wheat gluten for the same reason, different recipe tho, but the resulting product altho nice did also have a bready thing going on, i think you should always add the liquid slowly with seiten, and if you do put too much water in add extra nutritonal yeast and wheat gluten and NOT flour....keep trying, ive had some brilliant recipes ive created with seiten. It will get there in the end i promise 

[dodo]

ohh yes, very impressive, very realistic, very easy, very yummy....we had the left overs in burger buns for lunch today........the only hiccup is it doesnt say in the recipe when to add the nutritional yeast, but im assuming this goes in with the dry ingrediants at the begining, very very nice recipe, thanks 

[Jaali]

Delicious! 

This is the third from-scratch seitan recipe I've ever tried, and this is definitely one I'll be making again.  The tahini adds something that most don't, and it's easy and relatively quick.

I made a few seasoning adaptations:

1.  As bbq sauce is already very salty (and I like a lot of it), I omitted the bullion cubes and broth seasoning, which both tend to be high in sodium.

2. I added about 1 tbsp of organic ketchup to the liquid mixture, and seasoned with oregano and onion powder, black pepper, thyme, and would have put garlic powder in had it not been hiding in the back of the fridge.  I added only a tiny bit of salt.

I had a hard time pressing the raw 'ribs' as thin as I wanted, so thin-sliced them with a very sharp knife after they were cooked, and slightly browned them in a skillet with a bit more bbq sauce.  In basting the 'ribs' while they bake, thinning the bbq sauce with water works well for not saturating the ribs with overly salty sauce, and getting them nicely moist.

My ribs were a bit overly-browned even after 10 minutes; I'd check them at 8 before turning, next time.

When reheating, try tossing the sauced ribs in a little flour then heating in a little bit of oil, possibly adding a bit more sauce if you would like.

Thanks, Dragonfly!