Seitan 101

I am back, as promised with an illustrative tutorial on making your own batch of seitan from scratch . . .

Two simple ingredients to make your seitan "dough"
1 cup of vital wheat gluten
1 cup of water (I prefer lukewarm to warm)

Simply pour water over gluten flour and mix. I usually start with a fork and then move onto just getting in there with my hands.

Knead the seitan dough for about 5 minutes incorporating a bit of a pull and stretch method.

Please excuse the crazy hairdo and my "racy" apron.  Heehee

Set aside and allow to rest a bit while you make your broth. I usually set mine atop a piece of wax paper.

This step can go in many directions depending upon what you would like your base taste to be. 
This particular recipe uses a "beefy" broth I adapted from a recipe in the La Dolce Vegan cookbook.

4 c. water
1/2 c. tamari or shoyu
4 tsp.vegan worcestershire sauce (not pictured but I use Annie's)
1/4 c. nutritional yeast
2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. dried sage

Place all ingredients in a large stock pot over high heat and bring to a boil.

Once your broth has come to a rolling boil, turn the flame down just a bit but keep the liquid boiling.

This step also can go differently depending on what you'd like to do with the seitan. I made small pieces knowing that I intended on skewering the chunks but you can also make bigger steaks.

The imperative thing is to make sure you stretch the seitan as thin as you can without breaking it. 

This piece pictured here is actually a bit too large for what I planned and is mostly for show. I ended up breaking it in two before tossing it into the pot.

Carefully drop your seitan pieces one at a time into the pot of boiling broth.

It will rise to the top a bit as it cooks and . . .

 the pieces will inflate quite a bit. Once you have dropped all of your pieces in, lower to a simmer and close the pot with a lid.

Simmer for about 50-60 minutes, giving it a stir about every 10-15 minutes, until the broth has reduced completely.  You will notice that the seitan expands and rises to the top. Give it a stir and allow it to go back down then replace the lid.

Once your seitan has absorbed the broth completely, it's finished and ready for the next step.  Seitan tends to be a special treat in my house, so I generally make up a batch for a particular dish I have in mind and will move on to marinating/seasoning it immediately.  However, I will point out that this broth recipe is quite flavorful already and can be eaten as is.  It can be stored in the fridge for up to 6 days or frozen for use up to 6 months.

For the full recipe and to see what I did with this batch, visit our facebook page here.

Love and light,

Amber