Making Seitan

I used to be a vegetarian for 5 years, and during that time I consumed quite a lot of tofu. The range of vegetarian products, however, was still a bit limited, and tofu was the only "meat substitute" that I knew. I put the word between quotation marks, because I do not really regard tofu as a substitute, rather as a wonderful product that does not merit the pejorative undertone of substitute. Anyway, nowadays there is a much wider range on the market, and you can get all kinds of preparations on the base of quorn, seitan, lupin or even milk! Most of them are healthy and low on fat, but high on proteins.

After having read that seitan can be easily made, I decided to give it a try myself and bought a whole package of wheat flour to get started. There are several tutorials on the internet, and I will give you mine as well. You have to put a little work and it needs time, but it's fairly easy and cheap!

You need:
- 1kg wheat flour
- water
- 1 carrot
- vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp miso (optional)
- soy sauce
- pepper

Pour the flour in a bowl and add as much water as you need to knead a firm dough. Add warm water and cover the bowl with a towel. Let it rest for 1/2 hour.

In the meanwhile, pour 1-2L of water into a cooking pot, add vegetable stock, miso, soy sauce, pepper and the carrot cut into thick slices. It should be quite salty. You can add other spices if you like.

After 1/2 hour, knead the dough shortly under the water, and pour off the white liquid. This time, add cold water, knead, pour it off. You have to repeat that step until the water is no longer white, but clear. Make sure to alternate between cold and warm water. The last step should be done with cold water. You will notice that, while you wash out the starch, the dough will change. When the texture is chewy, it is ready.

Turn on the heater and wait till the brew is boiling. I suggest you cut the dough into slices or cubes, or whatever shape you want to have, because they will absorb the stock better. Reduce heat just a little and cook the seitan for 45 minutes.

You can season or marinate the seitan with other spices or soy sauce, depending on the dish you want to create, before frying or baking it.

Good luck and enjoy!

~Vail~