Homemade Seitan.

[Wychwood]

I mentioned in the manufactured Beef thread that I make Seitan (also known as wheat meat) and Mother asked if I could post my recipe. I'm not vegetarian or vegan, but I do think having another protein source at your fingertips is a good idea.

 

This is a recipe I found on the 'net have have used with success from the Spruce Eats website.

 

Homemade Seitan Recipe (thespruceeats.com) 

 

• • 1 cup vital wheat gluten
  • 1/2 cup chickpea flour
  • 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 2 Tablespoons soy sauce or tamari 
  • 6 3/4 cup water or vegetable broth, divided
  • Optional: Sliced onion, fresh ginger, nori, poultry seasoning

  Although seitan can be made with wheat flour, it's easier and less time-consuming to use vital wheat gluten. Double-check the expiration date to ensure that the gluten is still fresh; expired vital wheat gluten won't work properly. 

  To make your homemade seitan, combine the vital wheat gluten flour, chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, ground ginger, and garlic powder in a medium-sized bowl.

  In a separate bowl, mix the soy sauce and 3/4 cup of vegetable broth or water.

  Add liquid to dry ingredients and stir gently to combine. After a few initial stirs, you’ll probably need to use your hands for this since the gluten will have a rubbery consistency. Do not use an electric mixer! If needed, add more water, a tablespoon at a time. It should be fully mixed while maintaining the rubbery consistency. 

  Once the mixture is well-combined, knead your seitan 10 to 15 times, allow it to sit for 5 minutes, and then knead a few more times. Don't skip this step, as kneading develops the gluten, a protein found in wheat, to give the final product the consistency that you want. 

  Separate your ball of gluten into three or four smaller chunks. Gently stretch each piece into a flat cutlet, around 3/4-inch thick. Seitan will expand when cooking, so keep the cutlets on the thinner side. Don’t worry about any holes that may form in the gluten; most will fill after expansion.

   

  Add the seitan to 4 to 6 cups of cold vegetable broth — don't boil the liquid first — in a large pot and bring to a slow simmer. Add extra flavor to the seitan by using extra soy sauce or tamari, fresh ginger, or sliced onion. For a seafood-flavored seitan, add crumbled nori or other seaweed. For a chicken-flavored seitan, add a tablespoon of poultry seasoning.

  Cover the pot and allow the seitan to cook for an hour or more. Be sure to use a large pot and plenty of broth, as the seitan will expand. Seitan is done when it has expanded and firmed. 

   

  This is a very versatile basic recipe that can be tweaked to produce different flavours. As long as you stick to the basic quantities of vital wheat gluten, chickpea flour, nutritional yeast and liquid, you can vary the flavourings as you see fit. I use mushroom powder to make a kinda 'beef'  The possibilities are endless. the website I got this from also has recipes for using the seitan.

   

  As Mother mentioned, B12 is an important vitamin that can easily be lacking in a vegetarian diet, hence the nutritional yeast. 

•  

[euphrasyne]

I was a vegetarian for several years back in the early 2000s.  This was how I made seitan back then using the 1995 vegetarian times recipe.  it is less fancy than the one above.  I need to try wynchwood's because it sounds good.  

 

Seitan

7 1/2 c whole wheat flour

6 c water

Stir water into flour.  Knead 10m to develop gluten.  Run under water about 10m while stretching dough to wash away starch and bran.  Make a loaf, tie in cheesecloth, and boil in stock for 1h.  Slice and serve or use as desired.  *can add seasoning to stock or loaf as desired before boiling.  

 

This is a seitan loaf i served at a vegan thanksgiving around 04/06.  I used a mushroom gravy on it.  I ate it about 2x a month in various dishes for about 7 years with this recipe.

 

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by euphrasyne

[Mother]

Thanks Wychwood and Euphrasyne.  The second recipe is the one I used way back before I found gluten was a problem for me.  I SO wish we could have gotten the vital wheat gluten then as that recipe sounds super.  
 

You can add vital wheat gluten (protein) to your four when making bread to help it raise better and give it texture.  Bread flour often has it added already. 

 

Does anyone know how long vital wheat gluten will store?  

[euphrasyne]

Going to add that i always used the dough hook on my mixer to develop the gluten and i never had a problem.