Easy 4 Step Seitan

Personally, there is no greater protein in the veggie world than seitan!  Why you ask?  Well, because it's high in protein, low in fat and just plain yummy.  For more information on it, check out my previous post about seitan.

Nothing beats homemade seitan.  But, I'll be honest - when the thought first occurred to me to make it, I was pretty intimated.  It sounded like something that would be long and tedious to make.  Would it even really be worth it?  All the other prepared seitan I bought at stores were well, pretty gross.  Needless to say, I was totally WRONG.  Homemade seitan is leaps and bounds better than store bought seitan.

I make triple to quadruple batches on the weekend, place 4 cutlets in 1 Ziploc bag, pour some cooking liquid in the bag and freeze it.  I use it throughout the week in all my recipes.  It's just wonderful.  There's not much else I can say other than I truly recommend you give homemade seitan a go!


Easy 4 Step Seitan

Time:  1.5 Hr      |      Servings:  8       |      Difficulty:  Low


Ingredients

1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1 1/4 cup cold vegetable broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon Marmite or Vegemite
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
2 cloves garlic, pressed or grated on a microplane grater
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon tomato paste (optional)

10 cups water
2 vegetable bouillon cubes
1/4 cup soy sauce



Preparation

Okay - making seitan is as easy as 1-2-3-4.

1.  In a large bowl, mix together gluten flour and nutritional yeast.

2.  In a separate bowl, mix together veg broth, soy sauce, marmite, poultry seasoning, garlic, lemon zest and tomato paste, if using.

3.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and combine, knead dough for about 3 minutes until a spongy, very elastic dough is formed.  Allow to rest for 5 minutes.

4.  Roll out seitan and cut into 4 pieces.  This may be difficult - but using a sharp knife will be helpful!  Add to a pot with water, soy sauce and bouillon cubes.  Bring everything to a boil and turn down to a gentle simmer.  Simmer for 1 hour , turning occasionally.

That's it!  Enjoy in any recipe!



Suggestions:
- Seitan is lacking the amino acid lysine - to make your protein complete, eat with pulses (ie, beans, legumes)