So, what exactly is seitan? It is a meat substitute made out of wheat gluten (gluten de trigo), the main protein of wheat. Seitan is completely vegan, but obviously not gluten free, since, it is pretty much made of it. (So in case you have the gluten intolerance, I would advice not to become too friendly with seitan.)
But in case you tolerate gluten just well, which is the case with most people (despite the growing popularity of gluten free diets) seitan can be a great option to replace meat for you.
What makes seitan a really good meat substitute, is that it tastes quite neutral and its texture and consistency is quite similar as meat's. Also, you can make seitan in various different shapes, and also flavours, depending on how you prepare it. Only the sky is limit with different variations.
But for now, first things first. How to prepare seitan in your home kitchen? There is this sort of myth living around seitan claiming that it is hard to make. Which, I think, is completely not true. There are several phases in making seitan and yes, it takes some time and effrot, but it is definitely not hard nor complicated.
By following the simple instructions carefully, I would say anybody can make it. This is why I have tried to make these instructions as clear as possible, and with pictures of every step. I hope you will find it useful!
Here comes the recipe.
SEITAN (3-4 servings)
1 cup wheat gluten
1/2 cup gram flour (harina de garbanzo)
1 tsp smoked paprika powder
3/4 cup water
2 tsp soy sauce
1,5l water
1 tbsp vegetable broth
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
1. Mix the wheat gluten, gram flour and paprika powder in a bowl.
2. In another bowl, mix water and soy sauce.
3. Add the water-soy sauce-mix into the flour mix and stir with a fork.
4. When all the ingredients are mixed, take the dough out from the bowl on a baking table.
5. Using your hands, knead the dough until it starts creating elastic texture (some 2-4 mins should be enough)
6. Make an oblong shape of the dough (see the picture) and using a sharp knife, cut the dough into1-1,5cm pieces. You can now shape the pieces a little bit more if you want to make them flatter or bigger. Keep in mind that the pieces will get swollen in the boiling water. (Important: Keep the pieces separately on your chopping board, or they will get stuck to each other!)
7. Heat the boiling water and add the rest of the ingredients into the pot.
8. Place the seitan dough pieces into the boiling water one by one, and cook under lid for some 30 mins.
9. Pour out the boling water. Now your seitan is ready to be marinated and cooked.
When your seitan is ready, you can prepare the marinade you want to use, for example this smoky seitan marinade. If you want to make steaks of your seitan, you can leave them as they are, or if you want to use them in a stew or make fajitas or tacos, you can slice them into fine 1cm pieces and then use the marinade.
Marinate your seitan at least a couple of hours, if possible, leave it marinating overnight in the fridge. The longer you leave the seitan in the marinade, the better the flavour will be!
To cook the seitan, you can heat oil in a pan and add some onion slices, and then the seitan with all the marinade. If you want to make steaks, you can also try to cook your seitan in a grill. (Try to surprise your meat-eater friends in the next carne asada and see if they can spot the difference! ;D)
One highly recommended seitan recipe you can find here: Seitan fajitas & guacamole.
If you try out this seitan recipe, please let me know how it turned out for you! And if you have any further questions, please ask them in the comment section below.
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