Hail Seitan!

Currently, I am living in New Zealand. It's another Western country, just as the US, but there's a big difference: all that great vegan stuff you use isn't very available here. When it comes to Daiya and Garedin, it just doesn't get shipped here. There are some good alternatives, but they're very expensive. What you can find, ends up being very pricey for one meal. Hard to justify cooking at home being economical when eating out sometimes tends to SAVE money.

Because of this, I have vowed to learn to cook most staples from scratch. From bread to fake meats. On my to-do list has been seitan. But honestly, I've been afraid.

For weeks, I have watched every seitan video, read every recipe, review, horror story, etc. I finally braved it.

And guess what.... it's a piece of cake.
No, I'll have to addend that.
It's a piece of seitan.

Hey, I may not be the prettiest, but I taste fantastic!

What came out was a little wonky looking for my first attempt. But I'm OK with wonky!

Here's the trick I've learned. The water, or veggie broth, or even veggie broth/soy sauce combo, needs to be cool or cold. No lukewarm, no hot. That will activate the gluten and you will be left with a hot sticky mess, and not in the good way.

I will put the simple version here, but this recipe is so malleable. You could add some garlic powder, paprika, ginger, oregano. Really, the flavor combos are endless.

Easy Peasy Seitan 

Ingredients 

1 cup gluten flour (or vital wheat gluten, depending on the country you are in)
3/4 cup COOL water (or vegetable broth)
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice 

6-8 cups vegetable broth

Get a large stock pot and start your vegetable broth to a boil. If you dont want to use all vegetable broth, you can easily do half water. You just won't have as flavorful result.  

In a medium liquid measuring cup (or bowl, I like the cup for its spout), mix cool water, soy sauce and lemon juice together. In a large bowl containing the gluten flour, slowly mix in your liquid mixture with a wooden spoon. You want the remaining dough to have no dry spots and be evenly moist.  

Get your nice, clean hands in there and knead that dough for a couple minutes, til it has a nice elastic feel. The longer you knead it, the chewier it will be. So just 2-3 minutes tops. 

Pick up your gelatinous glob and shape it into a sausage. Using a knife or kitchen shears, cut it into quarters. From there you should be able to pick up each of your new sections and form them into patties. Hold them vertically and very gently stretch them on each side, turning as you go, you want them to be about 1/2 an inch thick. Be thorough and slow, if you go too quick you'll rip a nice hole in the middle of it (although this is aesthetically not pleasing, it tastes the same. Don't throw out your holey seitan!). 

Once your broth is at a nice rolling boil, turn it down to simmer. This is key. Simmer down.
Place your seitan patties in the broth and allow to simmer for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, take off the heat and allow to rest in the broth for 15 more minutes.  

Remove your patties from the broth and there they are! Slice, fry and nom! 

To store, place patties in a container and fill about halfway with some of your broth.

I made my first batch with some onions, broccoli, carrots and a homemade bbq sauce stir fried up. The quinoa was a great, fluffy addition.