The great Seitan search!

[Guest guest]

Hello one and all,

 

I am looking to learn how to make seitan to help with the meat eaters

in the house. One of them is very picky about textures.

 

What I am looking to make the stuff like Hill top Quickie makes in

Seattle. It has a very nice texture, slices nice. It has holes in

it and strings apart like meat. They won't share how they do it!

 

So I have tried the basic wheat gluten, water, oil, and spices.

Tried mixtures of wheat gluten with whole wheat and white flour.

Tried the potato startch and the tapioca. I have tried changing

cooking times from shorter to the 2 hours I have seen

 

I end up with everything from rubbery solid hard stuff, to gooey

uncooked like stuff! I have done google searches. I have checked

the files here (most of them I get document not found!). I have

found a few books but no luck.

 

So what can I do to make nice tender meat like seitan?

 

Thanks

Earthwalker

[Guest guest]

Try this recipe from Bryanna Clark Grogan,

http://www.bryannaclarkgrogan.com/page/page/579094.htm. There may be

other seitan recipes available in her free recipe archives as well,

I'm not sure. She is currently working on a seitan e-book which

should be available in the very near future. I can't wait!

 

BRYANNA'S NEW VERSION OF SOY AND SEITAN " TURKEY " (March 15, 2002)

Makes about 3 lbs.

 

The combination of tofu and soy or chickpea flour with the gluten

makes a seitan that is tender, not rubbery, and which slices easily,

even in VERY thin slices. The long kneading, resting, and slow-

cooking method partially adapted from recipe by Ellen from

http://www.ellenskitchen.com gives an incredible juicy, tender meat-

like texture. This recipe makes outstanding sandwich material.

 

DRY MIX:

2 c. pure gluten powder (instant gluten flour; vital wheat gluten)

1/2 c. full-fat soy flour or chickpea flour

1/2 c. nutritional yeast flakes

2 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic granules

1/4 tsp. white pepper

 

WET MIX:

12 oz. firm regular (NOT silken) tofu

1 and 1/2 c. water

3 T. soy sauce

1 T. olive oil

 

BASTING BROTH:

2 c. hot water

1/3 c. " chicken-style " vegetarian broth powder

2 T. olive oil

OPTIONAL: 4 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2-1 tsp. poultry herbs (sage, thyme, rosemary), crushed well

 

1) For the Wet Mix, in a blender, blend all the ingredients until

very smooth.

 

2) Mix the Dry Mix ingredients in the bowl of your electric mixer

with dough hook attachment, or place them in the bread machine in the

order given. Add the Wet Mix and knead for about 10 minutes. (If your

bread machine has a dough cycle-two kneads with a long rest in

between-use that cycle. Otherwise, just run it through the kneading

part and then unplug it and let it rest in the cover container, then

plug it in again for another knead, then remove it,) Let rest for

about 1 hour, covered. You can make your Cooking Broth at this time

and have it ready. Then knead it for 10 more minutes.

 

3) (NOTE: You can knead by hand, too, but it's tougher than bread

dough. You may want to let the seitan dough sit for a while to soak

up the liquid more thoroughly before you starting hand-kneading.)

 

4) The dough should be quite shiny and smooth. Avoid breaking it up

when you take it out of the bowl. NOTE: I like to line the pan with

cooking parchment to avoid sticking and tearing, and make the loaves

easier to turn, by whichever method.

 

5) COOKING METHOD #1.) Flatten the dough out into a long piece. Form

the dough into one large loaf. Place into a oval greased clay cooker

or claypot that has been soaked for 15 minutes in cold water (bottom

and cover), and lined with cooking parchment. DO NOT PREHEAT OVEN.

Pour the cooking broth over the roast, and cover. Place in oven and

turn to 325 degrees. F. Bake for 3 and 1/2 hours, turning the roast

over twice (ALTERNATE TO THIS METHOD: If you don't have a clay

cooker, you can use an ordinary oval meat or turkey roaster, medium

size, with a cover. PREHEAT THE OVEN FIRST WITH THIS PAN.)

 

6) COOKING METHOD #2.) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Flatten the

dough out into a long piece and cut in half equally to make two

rectangles. Form into 2 loaves. Place each loaf in an oiled 8 and1/2 "

x 4 and 1/2 " loaf pan and press down a bit with your hand. Mix the

Cooking Broth ingredients in a small bowl and pour 1/2 over each

loaf. Cover each loaf pan with foil and place in the oven.

Immediately reduce the oven heat to 200 degrees F. Bake for 3 hours.

Turn the loaves over, carefully loosening around the edges and from

the bottom with a small, thin spatula first. The loaves will have

puffed up quite a bit by now, but they will flatten out as they cook

further. Turn heat back to 325 degrees F. Cover loaves and bake for

30 minutes. Turn them over again, cover and bake 15 minutes. Turn

them over again and bake 15 more minutes, covered. Turn them over one

last time and bake 5-10 minutes.

 

7 ) Either way, the loaves should almost completely soak up the broth

by the end of the cooking time. If they don't, cook until they do.

There will be a bit of sticky " sauce " left in the bottom, which you

can use to glaze the loaves. Remove from the pans and serve, or let

cool. Seitan is generally better when cooled first, then reheated-it

firms up. So, it's a good idea to make it a day or more before

serving. Can be frozen.

 

8) IF YOU WANT A " SKIN " ON THE " TURKEY " , bake the " turkey as directed

above. Then it has to be bake again with the " skin " , but the pre-

baking can be done several days ahead of time.

 

You will need 2-4 large sheets of dried or fresh (probably frozen)

Chinese beancurd skin (yuba in Japanese). This product is simply

the " skin " that forms on the top of soymilk when it is heated (just

as it does with ordinary milk). The " skin " is lifted off and dried,

and is considered a delicacy in Chinese and Japanese cuisine. In its

dried form, it keeps for a long time, as long as it is stored

airtight. When reconstituted, wrapped around tofu or other fillings,

and baked, it becomes delicately crispy.

 

Soak the dried beancurd skin in warm water to cover while you make

the assemble the " turkey " . If you are using fresh or frozen, fresh

yuba, thaw it out, if necessary. If it is pliable, you can use it " as

is " . If it seems a bit dry and hard to fold, etc., then dip it in

warm wate for a minute—just to soften. If you leave it in the water

too long, it will start falling apart.

 

Oil a baking pan that the " turkey " fits into with a little room to

spare, or a cookie sheet with sides (jelly roll pan) with the Chinese

sesame oil. Line another pan, such as a cookie sheet, with the

prepared beancurd skin, overlapping if necessary to make it big

enough to cover the whole " turkey " . (There will be overhang—this is

good.) Place the roasted " turkey " on top. Fold the overhanging

beancurd skin over the " turkey " to cover. Brush with olive and/or

Chinese roasted sesame oil. Now invert th ewrapped " turkey " onto the

prepared baking pan. If made ahead, cover the pan and refrigerate

until baking time.

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the " Turkey " , uncovered, for

about 1 hour, or til golden and crispy, basting now and then with oil

(olive/sesame oil combination). Loosen the edges carefully and slide

it onto a serving plate.

[Guest guest]

You may have tried one or all of these already, but I got great

results by a) mixing the gluten powder with whole wheat flour and some

soy protein powder (could use soy flour, I just didn't have any), b)

kneading it FOREVER (ten minutes heavy kneading, one hour resting,

then another ten minutes), c) Using cold (refrigerated beforehand)

water/broth to start the cooking and d) cooking it in a slow cooker

for 4-6 hours with only enough liquid so that the " roast " absorbed it

all, leaving only a gravy-like substance. It came out very soft and

easy to cut thinly. I made a shorter roast though, only about 1 1/2

inches thick, whihc might make a difference. Good luck! It seems to

be a very fickle substance to cook with.

 

~Rachael

 

, " earthwalker_99 " <earlw

wrote:

>

> Hello one and all,

>

> I am looking to learn how to make seitan to help with the meat eaters

> in the house. One of them is very picky about textures.

>

> What I am looking to make the stuff like Hill top Quickie makes in

> Seattle. It has a very nice texture, slices nice. It has holes in

> it and strings apart like meat. They won't share how they do it!

>

> So I have tried the basic wheat gluten, water, oil, and spices.

> Tried mixtures of wheat gluten with whole wheat and white flour.

> Tried the potato startch and the tapioca. I have tried changing

> cooking times from shorter to the 2 hours I have seen

>

> I end up with everything from rubbery solid hard stuff, to gooey

> uncooked like stuff! I have done google searches. I have checked

> the files here (most of them I get document not found!). I have

> found a few books but no luck.

>

> So what can I do to make nice tender meat like seitan?

>

> Thanks

> Earthwalker

>

[Guest guest]

Isa Chandra Moskowitz has the best seitan recipe I've ever encountered in her

book Vegan with a Vengeance. Here's a link to the recipe.

 

Katie

http://frugalveggiemama.blogspot.com

 

 

 

 

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