I very rarely eat faux meat. I believe that I've stated that here before. In this post, I will introduce you to one of the exceptions to that. I'm going to walk you through how to make what I call wingless seitan chunks.
However, first I will give you a description. Seitan is a "wheat meat" made mainly from vital wheat gluten. Vital wheat gluten is a type of flour that has had most of the starch removed and is mainly just protein. You can check out the wikipedia page for a more in depth description:
Wikipedia: Seitan. These chunks are imitation boneless chicken wings and they are fantastic! Well, my first few batches were just alright. (You can ask my roommate Alex about me squeezing the water out of a certain batch and the amount of salt in that batch) However, after many trials with my vegan roomie, Josh, we can now successfully make consistently good seitan. The pictures for this post are of bbq and buffalo chunks that have been baked. Baking them makes a pretty decent seitan chunk, but from a strictly taste standpoint frying is better. These could be covered with any sauce your heart desires or if they are fried they do not even need sauce.
Sometimes familiar flavors are very comforting. That is certainly the case with these seitan chunks. One night, I made a batch of these and some homemade fries and I was a very happy person that night. (Even though I was a little worried that I had eaten too much fried food)
So, how are they made? The recipe is based off of a recipe from Veganomicon, but I have adjusted the ingredients and changed the process a bit. Set aside about 2 or maybe 2.5 hours for this recipe. For at least an hour and 15 minutes you will just be making sure that the pot doesn't boil. So, it's not an intense, demanding 2 hours.
Ingredient list:Broth:8 cups water
2 vegetable bullion cubes (mine are big, you may need 3)
1/4 cup soy sauce
Seitan (dry):
1 cup vital wheat gluten (maybe a little more)
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 teaspoon of poultry seasoning (this is a mix of thyme, marjoram and rosemary)
Seitan (wet):
1/2 teaspoon Better than bullion chicken base (don't worry it's fake and certified vegan)
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 cloves of crushed garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
This recipe will require that you find a health food store. Unless you have some type of awesome non-health food grocery store. A lot of grocery stores in the Columbus area are carrying vital wheat gluten now, but it comes in a very small package and is too expensive. I buy my vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast and better than bullion at Whole Foods. The vital wheat gluten and nutritional yeast are from the bulk section (that's where you will find the best price)
Here we have the broth for simmering. It is just a mixture of the water bullion cubes and soy sauce. The cubes will break up upon heating, but don't heat this up until the chunks are in the broth. Just set this aside for a while.
Before starting the to make the seitan, mix the better than bullion and water. Heat this up in the microwave for about 2 to 3 minutes. It should boil. The broth needs to be cold when you make the seitan. So, do this step before you want to make the seitan chunks. If I'm in a rush, I put the broth in the freezer for a while. If you're thinking ahead, though, you can put it in the fridge for a while.
When the broth is good and cold, mix the dry and wet ingredients separately.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix (don't cheat and use beaters!) until the ingredients are well mixed. There should be almost no white from the wheat gluten left.
Then, you get in there with your hands. You are going to knead this for about 5 minutes. When you are done kneading this the dough should be elastic. If it doesn't seem like you are achieving elasticity you either need to add more vital wheat gluten or keep on kneading. It's hard to describe how it should feel when it's done. I would say that it is not the same consistency, but reminiscent of oobleck.
Veganomicon recommends splitting the mixture into 3 parts and kneading some more. Probably not a bad idea.
Seitan is normally made in one loaf and then cut up after cooking. For these, though, I divide them into chunks and then simmer them. I think it gives a better texture, removes the step of cutting up a loaf and creates a more natural shape. I think one of the things that scares people about vegan food (especially tofu) is that it normally comes in distinct shapes. It gives the feeling that your food was created in a lab somewhere. Using this method, we create a more convincing chunk shape.
Anyway, divide the seitan dough into about 35 chunks. I have a ping pong ball in the picture for reference. The chunks will expand in the cooking process, so keep that in mind when choosing your size.
Take all of your chunks and dump them into the broth. I prefer to use a cast iron pot because it is easy to simmer in it. Cast iron pots are not very expensive and I would recommend picking one up if you cook regularly.
Cover and bring the broth to a boil. Immediately after it hits boil back off on the heat, though! Any extended boiling will result in spongier seitan. This is not what we want for a chicken imitation. Slide the lid off just a bit, as pictured. Reduce the heat until the broth is at a low simmer. This is where we want it to be for an hour. Occasionally stir the chunks around during this hour. Make sure to check every once and awhile so that you are always at low simmer.
After an hour of low simmer, turn the heat off. Let the chunks sit for 15 minutes in the broth.
Here is what they should look like coming out of the pot. I use a small strainer and scoop them out because you can save the broth and reuse it. If you reuse it, measure it out and add enough water to get back to 8 cups. Add another bullion cube and some soy sauce, too.
Another view of them.
For reference, here are the cooked chunks next to the same ping pong ball. Now, you have a choice. You can throw the chunks in the fridge and eat later (I think a few hours in the fridge firms them up a little bit) or finish them up now. If you're going to store them for more than a few hours in this state, it is probably good idea to put them in some of the broth.
There are a few choices at this point, as well. My pictures are from a time that I baked the chunks. At the end, I will also describe how to fry them.
I use barbecue and buffalo sauce. You can use whatever sauce strikes your fancy. I use 1/4 cup of cayenne pepper sauce mixed with a tablespoon of margarine for buffalo sauce and barbecue sauce straight out of the bottle. Coat the chunks in flour (you can add some corn starch into the flour, too. I don't think it makes much of a difference). Dip the chunks into the sauce and place in a greased baking pan.
Here they are coated and ready to go into the oven. Set the oven for 375 Fahrenheit and bake for about 20 minutes.
Here they are post-baking. They don't look that much different.
They will need another coat of sauce after baking. So roll them around in some more. Serve and enjoy!
To fry: Coat the chunks in flour. Heat the oil up (I use canola) between 375 and 400 degrees Fahrenheit. I only cook about 6 chunks at a time to maintain good oil temperature. When they are a delicious looking golden, fried color, take them out of the oil. As with all frying, I put the chunks on a paper towel as they come out of the fryer.
You can go ahead and eat them just like that. Maybe dip them in some ketchup or bbq sauce. If you want, you can go the sauce route. Make the sauces as before. 1/4 cup cayenne pepper sauce mixed with a tablespoon of melted margarine or barbecue sauce right out of the bottle. Toss the chunks in the sauce and then EAT!
Let me know if you have any questions, concerns, clarification or whatever else. If you give them a try, let me know how it goes.
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