Seitan

I've been stuck at home with what i think is Mono for the past two days and had nothing better to do than sleep, go to yoga, internetz and cook. I was going through the fridge and saw that i had some Vital Wheat Gluten and figured i would make some. It's been awhile and as of yet my Seitan does NOT taste like the shit you buy at the store. i'm getting better though. the seitan and my "mono"

seitan is great because it has 23g of protein per 1/4 C and only .5g fat this shit is super versatile and i will post some variations of what to do with this.

BTW... i am not being paid by Bob Mills... their links are super easy and loaed with info. i usually buy mine bulk a Henry's Marketplace

There are shit tons of recipes for seitan. all are different and right. Here's mine:

Makes 4 patties:

1C Vital Wheat Gluten
1/4 C nutritional yeast
3T garlic powder

For chicken seitan
1T tumeric
4T veggie chicken bouillon powder
1T chicken grill seasoning

For beef seitan
couple dashes of liquid smoke (add to liquid)
4T veggie beef bouillon powder
1T beef grill seasoning

2/3 C very cold water
1/3 C soy sauce
1 carrot chopped
1 stalk celery chopped
1/2 onion chopped


Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately.
add wet to dry and mix with a fork until no longer dry. knead for about 5 minutes then cover with wet towel in bowl for about 30 minutes.

while seitan is resting....

to a large stock pot add 8-10 cups of water, all of the chopped veggies and 1 c soy sauce.

once seitan has rested, knead and shape into a ball. and cut into 4. shape as desired. I like to make patties by flattening them either with a rolling pin or with a plate... or with a wine bottle... or with whatever the fuck i have next to me. drop seitan into the pot of cold water so that the seitan won't fall apart while cooking. turn heat to low and simmer for about an hour. Do NOT let the water boil. It will give it a spongy texture. so yeah... you have to watch it basically the whole time. I hate that part.

Carefully remove and drain seitan patties and allow to get to room temperature before putting in fridge. patties can be wrapped and frozen for later use. I like to eat the boiled veggies in the meantime.

seitan can now be sauted, breaded and fried, baked, stewed... whatever you would/could do to any other animal protein. enjoy!

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MaPo Tofu... or at least my version of it

Serves 2

Sauce:
1C veggie, chick'n or dashi broth
2T dark soy
2T light soy
1 tien tsin chili pepper sliced
1 T hoisin sauce
1T sesame oil
1T chili oil

Protein:
3T sesame oil
1/2 block vegan crumbles
1/2 block silken tofu (you can use firm but i love silken)

spices:
5 slices ginger, finely diced
2 gloves garlic finely minced
white pepper

thickener:
1T corn starch
2T cold water

garnish:
2 green onions sliced

METHOD:

in a small saucepan combine all of the ingredients and bring to a boil. reduce stock by about a third, stirring occasionally. set aside

meanwhile...

drain tofu and gently pat to remove excess moisture. Slice tofu lengthwise then across to make cubes. i usually end up with about 12 pieces for a half block

in a large fry pan add 3 T sesame oil and when hot add the vegan crumbles. fry until heated throughout (this will not be long since the crumbles are already cooked) about 2 minutes. Add ginger and garlic and saute until aromatic. Add sauce to the pan and stir gently. Next, add silken tofu very gently as you do not want to break up the tofu too much. Coat tofu with sauce, again, gently. mix cornstarch to 2T cold water mix throughly and add to the pan, once again, stirring gently. once sauce has thickened add white pepper to taste and top with green onions.

Serve atop rice or my favorite... rice noodles.

ENJOY!