HOW TO MAKE SEITAN - STEP BY STEP

Seitan! If seitan is a new thing for you, I'm going to give you 5 seconds to laugh about the fact that it sounds like the name of the devil, when you say it out loud. 5...4...3... (that's it, let it out) 2...1. Aaand we're done.

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.

SEITAN FAJITAS & GUACAMOLE

It is time for a new recipe. Rebel Food Club proudly presents: seitan fajitas and guacamole!

Seitan what? I guess seitan might be a new thing for many people, so I decided to make another post completely dedicated to seitan later this week. For now, let it be mentioned that seitan is a meat substitute made from wheat gluten, and is not actually too hard to make by yourself. (Recipe coming soon!)

Another option is to buy seitan ready made. In Mexico, you can find ready made seitan in vegan stores and some well-equipped grocery stores, such as City Market, but according to my experience, seitan is still relatively unknown here in Mexico. (Also, it tends to be many times more expensive ready made, so making it yourself is usually worth it.)

Then why use seitan instead of other options, like soy? Seitan is very unique meat substitute that, because of its consistency and neutral flavor, can come very close to meat. In fact, if this dish was offered to 10 people, who didn't know what it was, probably 8 or 9 of them would actually think it's meat.

I have included a special marinade in this post, that can be used to marinate any meat substitute (tofu, mushrooms, soy) for a meatier flavor. So, in case you want to try these fajitas out and don't have any seitan available, you can use some of these other options with the smoky marinade.

Here's what you need.

SMOKY SEITAN MARINADE (for 400g of self made seitan)

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup tomato paste

1 tbsp liquid smoke

1 tbsp paprika powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

2 tbsp agave syrup

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl.

2. Stir with a spoon until smooth.
3. Mix the marinade into sliced seitan and refridgerate for couple of hours, or for the best result, overnight.

SEITAN FAJITAS (3-4 servings)

400g seitan (see the recipe)

3 bell peppers (red, yellow and green)

1 onion

150g cherry tomatoes

wheat tortillas

self made guacamole (recipe below)

olive oil

1. Chop the onions and the bell peppers into fine, 5-6cm slices.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add the onions. Cook 2 minutes in medium heat.

3. Add marinated seitan into the pan and cook 5-10 minutes in high heat.

4. Finally add the chopped bell peppers and cook some 2-4 minutes more.
5. Turn off the heat and add the cherry tomatoes.

GUACAMOLE

3-4 avocados

2 tomatoes

1/2 red onion

1/2-1 chile serrano

1/2 cup fresh coriander

4-5 limes

1 tsp salt

1/4 black pepper

1/2 garlic powder

1. Mash together the avocados, lime juice and salt.

2. Chop the onion, chile, coriander and tomatoes and add them into the mix.

3. Stir in the black pepper and garlic powder. Refridgerate 1 hour before serving.

When all of your ingredients are ready, heat the wheat tortillas on a pan or in a microwave oven. Wrap the tortillas in a towel to keep them warm. Serve the fajitas straight from a steamy hot pan and the guacamole from a fresh bowl. If you want, you can add some vegan sour cream or spicy salsa into your tortilla wraps.

Enjoy! :)