Seitan - General Guidance
Well friends, I girded my loins and tried making my own seitan yesterday. I had trawled the Net for info and some of it was contradictory, others were confusing, but I did find out how to make it with gluten powder and when to freeze it--after the initial cooking.
I always follow the easiest recipe thru the way it says the first time and go from there. NOW I understand why they recommend you add seasonings, herbs, mushroom powder etc. to the gluten mix...it tastes of absolutely nothing, as is. I mean, imagine eating an eraser. OK as a chewing exercise...flavour, not so much! LOL I also understand why they suggest you work it very little (mine was almost as dense as me!) and if it weren't 100º out I might have tried baking instead of boiling it.
BUT...and it's a big but...after I had laughed at the way it swells up when you boil it and looks like something out of a biology lab, and tasted it and found it...well, completely tasteless...I sliced it up and marinaded it in an African barbecue sauce. And DH the carnivore tasted it and did NOT go "Gross!" or laugh at me about it. We agreed the recipe and method need "tweaking" and that I need to print out the instructions and follow them closely, but that we are definitely onto something, at less than a dollar a pound for pure food, no waste. No bones, no fat, no cholesterol...and cheap! He ate some and said maybe we should put it in a curry etc.
10 years ago or even 5 he would have laughed at me and made "cute" remarks all the time I was trying to eat it. Now he agrees we need to eat less meat and things like this will help that. From his point of view it is purely economic (he is facing disability retirement) but hey, any start is a good one. Now if I could just get him to eat things with leaves and roots... ::)
i like the seitan recipe from VWAV, but there are also loads of seitan recipes on Vegan Dad's blog (http://vegandad.blogspot.com), which is also where i learned about STEAMING seitan, aka my new favorite way to make it. so easy!
Ok so I made seitan for the very first time last night. I am now stuck with dishes with wheat gluten stuck all over them! I have washed and scrubbed and can't get it off!!!! I don't have a dishwasher so I am limited to hand methods.
Do you have any tricks?
Help!
Soak them. It should break down and be easily wiped off after a couple of hours.
Someone (HH?) also suggested in another thread to use a damp paper towel to scrub the bits off, as opposed to a scrubby sponge, since those bits will muck up your sponge right quick. Just another hint I wanted to pass along.
Yep. I'm not a fan of using non-recyclable material for cleaning, but in this case paper towels are the trick.
Next time add less liquid. It'll stick less.
Don't use hot water to clean dishes with gluten on them, only cold water. Once all the gluten is gone, you can then use hot water if you want. Since I've been doing this, I've had no trouble cleaning up. I can't remember where I heard this tip before...maybe Julie Hassen on her steamed sausages video?
True. I once stuck a seitan-caked bowl in the freezer before I attempted to clean it.
I can't find wheat gluten where I live, but today I bought some rice gluten flour from my local Asian grocer... Does anybody know whether this will work okay for making seitan? I suspect it will work cos the chemistry's similar, but I am wondering if it will taste wierd... :-\
I'm guessing it won't work very well. Rice doesn't have as much gluten as wheat (I don't think?), so it probably won't "congeal" properly. I mean, seitan is frequently referred to as "wheat meat", so I don't know if "rice meat" would be similar at all. Try it, though, and report back!
On a different note, exactly how is "seitan" pronounced? I always pronounced it like "satan" because of all of those veg shirts/stickers with "praise seitan" on them. However, I was helping out at a vegan food vendor booth one time, and then people there pronounced it "SAY tawn". I thought that sounded lame, so I hope they were just trying to be "fancy" and it's not pronounced that stupid way, but how do you guys and gals pronounce it?
say-ton.
hah ha.
i don't think rice gluten is the same - wheat gluten is a protein and i think rice gluten is a starch. just my impression, i might be wrong.
Ok, but no extreme emphasis on the "ton"? So if you say it quickly, it kinda sounds like "satan", right?
BTW, that AllRecipes.com recipe for chicken seitan is quite tasty--made a big batch yesterday and we're having BBQ sandwiches this week :)>>>
i like the seitan recipe from VWAV, but there are also loads of seitan recipes on Vegan Dad's blog (http://vegandad.blogspot.com), which is also where i learned about STEAMING seitan, aka my new favorite way to make it. so easy!
I made seitan for the first time today, with this recipe from Vegan Dad:
http://vegandad.blogspot.com/2008/07/vegan-reuben-sandwich.html
Overall, it was very easy. I'm not quite satisfied with the seasoning, though. The cloves and/or allspice make it smell like cake and the flavor is pretty much just salty. Truth be told, I think I would have been just as happy with my "Reuben" if it were just the sauerkraut and thousand island dressing. ::)
But now that I know how easy it is, I'll experiment with some other flavorings.
I pronounce it Say-tan. mmmm say-tan!
I can't find the thread, but I remember HH giving tips on how to clean the dishes after making seitain. I'm getting ready to try the seitan o greatness and I don't want to mess up my dishes. Can you remind me? is it using cold water?
thanks!
i would just clean it right after you make it. either that or put in some soak water. don't want that stuff to get stuck on!
My only advise was to use a paper towel. I'm not fond of disposable products, but in the case of seitan I make an exception. The other thing is to make it a bit more dry. I make baked seitan instead of simmered seitan and I think the dough is thicker. It doesn't stick to the bowl.
Yeah, I did the baked thing and there really wasn't any residue at all in my bowl. I remember last time I made it (LONG ago) there was mucky sticky mess that ruined my dish brush!
I loved the Seitain O greatness! I am wondering if this recipe was flavored with just nutritional yeasty stuff if it would make a sliceable cheese product?
My seitan turkey is in the oven now. It still has an hour left but I just checked it and all the basting broth is gone. I'm afraid if I let it cook the last hour it will just get hard and dry. Should I take it out of the oven now or add some more broth or just leave it be. I don't want to ruin it! Thanks!
I took it out of the oven with a half hour left. I figured if it needs to cook more than it will cook tomorrow when I reheat it. Tastes good so far
I hope it comes out good tomorrrow, if nothing else, flood it with gravy!!
BP and RC recently made a bunch of loaves for our early Tday, so maybe they will weigh in on it. Theirs turned out fantastic!! They gotz skillz.
When you cook it more, add a little bit more broth. Just so it doesnt get all dry. But honestly, the broth absorption should happen at the very end, when you are flipping it every so often. The pan gets all browned and the loaf is moist and tender. Its amazing.
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