Making home made seitan? (veggie food)

star2007 · 12 February 2009 at 11:07AM

Hi Weezl,

thanks for the linky there! :beer:

Yup.... I'm feeling a bit intrepid so I'll take a trip into uncharted O/S waters and make my own, keeping a travel diary as I go, and will report back to OSHQ with my research findings...

Might not be till Monday however, as Mr Star is coming to visit me later for a long Valentine's romantic weekend! :happylove

Will keep you posted & update you soon!

Star x

star2007 · 12 February 2009 at 11:20AM

Hi Penny,

I use 'veggies' as a short hand to cover both vegetarians & vegans. I don't use either milk or eggs... however I'm technically not quite vegan as I do occasionally use honey (undecided about the issue), I'm still wearing out my old leather shoes (don't purchase them new now however), etc.

Being vegan is a whole lifestyle package I don't feel I can completely live up to at the moment (i.e. thinking of things like animal ingredients in the dyes in our clothes) etc.

However, I try to live as environmentally & ethically as I can, which to me overlaps about 98.55% with veganism.

foreign_correspondent · 12 February 2009 at 11:26AM

ooh mock duck - this used to be my big treat when I was a teenage vegetarian - now I am a grown up omnivore I still like it!

However, I am pretty certain that this (or something similar) is passed off as chicken at my local chinese takeaway!

star2007 · 12 February 2009 at 11:40AM

foreign_correspondent wrote: »

However, I am pretty certain that this (or something similar) is passed off as chicken at my local chinese takeaway!

Oh well, at least they're passing off something from the vegetable kingdom, rather than something unmentionable from the animal one! :rolleyes:

foreign_correspondent · 12 February 2009 at 11:43AM

absolutely, I never buy chicken unless I am cooking it myself, however, OH has had things with it in a couple of times, and it is definately not chicken - he cannot tell, but I can - the structure and texture is all wrong! I would actually buy it if I knew for certain it wasnt going to be chicken :-)

star2007 · 12 February 2009 at 11:54AM

ooh I think I know what you mean about the strange texture of the 'chicken' in the chow mein, back from when I was an omni! I just thought it was a from a cheapo cut of meat. Even if it were actually seitan, I'm guessing it would be simmered in chicken broth, so not suitable... but maybe worth asking?

baby_fuzz · 13 February 2009 at 3:48PM

star2007 wrote: »

ooh I think I know what you mean about the strange texture of the 'chicken' in the chow mein, back from when I was an omni! I just thought it was a from a cheapo cut of meat. Even if it were actually seitan, I'm guessing it would be simmered in chicken broth, so not suitable... but maybe worth asking?

The cheapo chicken they use in the takeaways IS chicken, but it has been mixed with shedloads of water and tenderisers in giant cement mixers... :eek:
urgh!:p

foreign_correspondent · 13 February 2009 at 3:57PM

hmm, I am not sure it is chicken at all though - the structure is fibrous, but not quite the same as real chicken... I have tried googling to find out in the past but without success.

If anyone manages to make the seitan and it is good, please do let me know!

ETA - there is a youtube here showing how to make it! it has a very long intro but is useful http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRNxKKOncY4

and part 2 - how to cook it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Tu64T4Zo34&feature=related

Caterina · 13 February 2009 at 5:07PM

I have made seitan before, a long time ago when I was young and macrobiotic - will try to give you some direction but can't remember the exact recipe, I think it is more a case of trial and error.

If all fails, here is another link on how to make seitan "properly":

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Seitan

What I did was start a dough with wholemeal flour and water, then placed the dough in a bowl of cold water under the tap and kept kneading and rinsing away the starch, as soon as the water got a bit cloudy I would change it. I know that some people leave the dough submerged in water overnight but I always worried that it would dissolve completely.

I kept kneading and kneading and rinsing and rinsing until the dough became seitan.

I suppose you could start small and then once you got the hang of it you can increase the volume.

Good luck, I would be interested in your successful result as many times I have thought I would give it another go, much cheaper than buying industrial made veg protein!

I also used to make tofu (fiddly but very satisfying and sooooo much cheaper than shop bought!).

HTH

bluemoon_3 · 13 February 2009 at 5:47PM

I've been meaning to do a post about seitan for a while, actually! I've been making it fairly regularly for the last year or so (and occasionally before that), but I've never had 'pre-made' seitan so I don't know how my homemade seitan compares.

The place I buy vital wheat gluten from is http://www.flourbin.com/ where it is listed as 'Gluten Powder'. It's cheap per pack, but the postage is high so it's worth doing a big order. It's basically the same as 'bread improver' but tubs of bread improver are expensive.

I have made it with plain flour as well but it's very time consuming and messy and you can't control the flavourings as much - all you can really flavour is the broth.

I primarily use the Bryanna Clark Grogan recipes (as always, lol). Bryanna is quite generous with her recipes online so I can link you to the one's I use most from her books here -> http://www.cyclingforums.com/showthread.php?t=76726

I make the 'Beefy' seitan most often, and the slowcooker gives it just the texture I like - I cook it on low over night. This is nice cubed, coated in flour, and browned to use in recipes. The 'soy and seitan turkey' is also fantastic - I always make this for 'turkey sandwiches' at christmas! This is better baked in the oven though. The 'chicken' recipe is one I didn't like as much. There are more of these type of recipes in 'Nonna's Italian Kitchen' including a different version of the 'pork' and 'veal'.

I never really knead the dough, and it's always turned out alright.

Definitely have a go at the chickpea cutlets if you get some wheat gluten! I've made them a couple of times now and though I might tweak the flavourings a bit, the basic recipe is great.

There's also a baked pepperoni-type recipe that's been doing the rounds recently, but I haven't tried that yet!

I don't think of seitan as meat, but it can be used in the same way as meat in many recipes - for example, stroganoff, curry, etc. Don't expect a meat-like texture.

I'll post again if I think of anything else - I'm not HUGELY experienced, but I have made it a few times now, so feel free to ask any questions.

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Making home made seitan? (veggie food)

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