I guess one batch of seitan is not enough to make me a non-newbie, but I finally got over my fear and made a batch of seitan. It may be one small step for long time vegans, but for a flexitarian like me, it was a huge leap of faith. I actually made so much seitan that I took to twitter, asking friends if seitan could be frozen.
Now I’m taking to my blog asking how I should use said seitan.
I’ve only had seitan once before. Last time I visited my parents I had a wonderful bbq seitan wrap at a vegan restaurant I tried out (Rise Above Cafe in St. Catharines Ontario). So I’m not even sure if I made it right.
Actually I’m pretty sure I messed it up a fair bit. It tastes good, but the texture will take some getting used to.
As for my first batch of seitan, I used the recipe on the side of the Bob’s Red Mill Vital Wheat Gluten package. Except I decided to double the recipe, because I wanted a lot of seitan. For some reason, I didn’t think that 12 servings sounded like it was going to be that much seitan. I think I thought, people don’t use a lot of seitan when they make it and my friend seems to think he can’t keep enough seitan around because his 2 year old loves it so much. So I should make a lot more.
- Doubling the recipe was probably a mistake.
- I used the largest pot I had, the one I use when I want to boil 8 ears of corn at once. I put 12 cups of water in it to start my broth.
- Then I mixed my seitan base but didn’t think to start stirring immediately after adding the water. I had a fun time trying to get to the center of the loaf to soak sections in the middle that were still try.
- Because the broth still wasn’t boiling, I started cutting my loaf of seitan dough while I waited. And put the pieces in a bowl together. Needless to say, the pieces stuck together and returned to being a large blob that I had to cut apart again.
- What I think I did right was stir the broth as I added pieces one by one. I think this helped prevent the pieces from sticking together.
- Because it said to boil for an hour, I stepped away to go play Plants versus Zombies. Within 5 minutes we were over flowing. This included pieces of seitan on my stovetop.
- May I mention that one should not play a game that reminds one of zombies when making seitan. Seitan kind of reminds me of brains.
- I got the seitan under control, but it kept expanding. I had to return to the stove to mix it regularly so that all the pieces would be in the broth more regularly. I also overflowed a few more times.
- My seitan ended up in the most random shapes ever.
- Overall, I couldn’t get over how much seitan I ended up with. The seitan really absorbs a lot of broth. That’s probably why one reader told me on facebook that it was all in the broth.
I’m looking forward to trying it out. I already have my eyes on the following recipes, but please let me know what your favorites are.
I’ll be sure to let everyone know what I think of it. I hope I end up loving it.
So tell me, how was your first seitan experience? Was it a comedy of errors like mine? What is your favorite use of seitan? (Because I’ll probably be eating it on my own.)
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*On an off topic, I’m sorry for my absence the last week. I have a bunch of posts lined up in my personal laptop, but the fan was shot when I came back from a trip to North Carolina last week. In an effort to not have to replace my laptop 3 1/2 months before a very expensive time in our lives, it’s been off since then. I’ve been using my beloved Kindle Fire and occasionally my work laptop since then. Luckily I received the replacement part last night. So with some luck, I’ll be up and running again soon. Because frankly, I’m sure no one wants to see pictures taken with my cell phone for very long.
I'm an engineer, an animal lover, a runner and an ex-rower. I like medical devices, big ships and mountains. This is my journey teaching myself to make healthy foods and explore the world of vegan and vegetarian cuisine.
Nice! With a good flavours, I think seitan is a nice treat!
I just posted a great recipe with seitan and I like the other one, too, for my chorizo seitan sausage.
http://tastespace.wordpress.com/2012/06/21/chinese-cabbage-and-seitan-with-fermented-black-beans/
http://tastespace.wordpress.com/2011/10/01/braised-cabbage-with-chorizo-seitan-sausage/
Although I am out of seitan now, I look forward to seeing what you make. Yum!
janet @ the taste space recently posted..Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad with Lime and Cilantro (Whole Foods Detox Salad)
You can drastically change the flavor of your seitan with the broth you cook it in. Check the recipes for mock meats in La Dolce Vegan. The shapes you got seem normal to me. It is hard to get any consistency when cutting seitan. Luckily, it all cooks pretty much the same, even if not the same shapes and sizes. Oh, and mine boils over EVERY time. I always manage to lose track of what I””m doing.
As for the texture, it will vary based on how long you knead (it gets smoother and chewier if you knead it longer) and how you cook it, after the boiling step. Try baking, sauteing and grilling for different results.
My faves are BBQ (on my blog today) and breading and baking it like chicken nuggets. My girls love seitan, just like your friend””s two year old. I make it in batches using two cups of gluten at a time and it””s usually one meal and lunch leftovers the next day. If it makes it longer than that, it””s a miracle.
Sandra Kohlmann recently posted..Vegan Grilling No. 3 BBQ Seitan
That is a lot of seitan! Definitely freeze it. Just put it in a container covered in some of the cooking liquid and you”re good to go.
I don”t actually make seitan recipes that much although I probably would if I had seitan pre-made sitting in the freezer..
Here are a few recipes if you”re interested:
http://www.cottoecrudo.com/en/stuffed-aubergines-with-seitan-sun-dried-tomatoes-raisins-basil-and-mint/
http://strawberrypepper.com/2010/10/18/vegan-swedish-meatballs/
http://www.eatmedelicious.com/2012/01/shredded-seitan-and-mushroom-empanadas.html
I also love making steamed seitan sausages. The basic recipe on the PPK is excellent and you can doctor it up with whatever spices you like for a different take.
http://www.theppk.com/2012/01/vegan_sausage/
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It tastes great in a wrap with red bell peppers
My first (and second) attempts at home-made seitan were DISASTERS. But then I realized I just don””t like the straight-up boiled on the stove version. So I found a crockpot recipe that makes it super-easy to make, and also a baked seitan recipe that is amazing–like really chewy bread that soaks up sauce in the most delicious way.
Anyway, I absolutely love it in stir-fries or in bowl of grains+veggie+peanut (or other) sauce on top. Not exactly a recipe, but easy ways to make quick meals with seitan. It””s great chopped up in salads too. Ahh, happy seitan-ing, and I want to see what you come up with to use it for!
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Actually, this is really important and we have to make sure sometimes that when making recipes, better to be exact and to make it awesome too..
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I””m a seitan newbie! I just steamed my first batch and it””s cooling down right now, but I””m afraid it didn””t go exactly right: it seemed to stay raw for a long time so I kept it in the steamer double the time. And it didn””t grow in size much : I hope it””ll be okay! I was afraid to try my hand at seitan and if it fails… It seemed so easy when Terry Hope Romero did it in her cooking demo last Thursday!
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[...] wasn’t that long ago that I experimented with Seitan for the first time. That was some seriously unappetizing [...]