How to prepare homemade seitan: 3 delicious recipes

Seitan is a “vegetable meat” made from wheat gluten. It is often liked a lot because it has a firm texture and can be used almost the same as meat in many dishes.

Although there are many different types of seitan, according to its ingredients and cooking methods. In general, the seitan that we are used to eating here is made from wheat gluten, breadcrumbs and soy sauce. A dough is formed, cooked and the result is the seitan, ready to be cut and used in whatever we want.

That is, the seitan not raw doughit is cooked, but once it is done we can do it again grilled, fried, in stir-fry, etc.

Here I will tell you how to make seitan at home in two different ways and I will give you quick and easy recipes with seitan so that you can learn to cook it and make your own variations. Remember, also, that in the ebook “Healthy lunches and dinners: 100 vegetarian recipes” you can find many ideas for preparing vegetarian meals.

Video: Tricks so that the seitan is perfect

how to make seitan

Making seitan at home is very easy and very cheap. The best thing is to start with wheat gluten powder, which is sold in any herbalist or health food store, because that way we can add the ingredients we want and they will be perfectly integrated into the dough.

Wheat gluten does not behave the same as wheat flour, which is not just the protein, it also includes starches. Wheat gluten forms elastic and rubbery chains that do not tend to stick to everything as it happens when we make a bread dough, but tend to stick only to each other and leave out the rest of the ingredients that we put.

If we start with powdered gluten it is much easier, since the chains will form when adding water, mixing with the other ingredients.If we do it starting from wheat flour, With washing and kneading, everything we put in it will go down the sink when we throw away the water full of starches and we will only have the already developed gluten, to which we cannot add anything else.

To better understand seitan I recommend that you try to make both versions at homefrom gluten and from flour.

1. Seitan from wheat gluten

To make the seitan ball:

Ingredients

2 cups wheat gluten½ cup breadcrumbs5-6 tablespoons soy sauce (preferably shoyu)¼ teaspoon garlic powder¼ teaspoon onion powder2 cups water

Preparation

Put the wheat gluten, breadcrumbs, garlic and onion in a large bowl and mix it. Put the soy sauce and water in the center and stir it, incorporating the gluten. Knead it by hand until it stops breaking up and a consistent dough is formed and elastic. Cover it and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.

To cook the seitan:

Ingredients:

A couple of bay leaves ½ onion 2 garlic cloves ½ medium leek ½ cup soy sauce ½ teaspoon thyme ½ vegetable stock cube

Preparation:

Put all the ingredients, the gluten ball and enough water to cover it well in a medium-large saucepan or pot. Put it on high heat and when it boils, put it on medium-low heat. Cook for 30-35 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the seitan is firm and cooked.

2. Seitan from flour

Keep in mind that once washed and removed the starch you will not have a mass of 500 g of gluten, if not much less.

Ingredients

500 g of wheat flour (preferably strong flour) 500 ml of water 1 teaspoon of salt

Preparation

In a large bowl put the flour and salt and mix it. Make a small hole in the center and pour the water. Stir with a spoon, incorporating the flour little by little until a dough is formed.Knead with your hands as if it were bread until it forms a homogeneous ball.Cover it and let it rest for at least 1 hour.Fill the bowl with water until it covers the ball. Knead it in the water with your hands. Every time the water turns white, throw it away and refill the bowl again. Keep kneading until only the gluten remains, which is a little more yellowish in color than the starch and has a slightly more textured texture. very elastic. Drain well and it will be ready to cook.

To cook the seitan do it the same as with the gluten-based version. You can add more things if you want, like a cinnamon stick, cardamom, a sprig of rosemary, celery, etc.

When we have our seitan done, how do we keep it? We can store it in a tightly closed container in the fridge with its cooking broth, or drain it very well and freeze it (well protected).

3 easy and tasty recipes with seitan

cooking with seitan It is very easy, especially considering that it is a dough that is already cooked, so we only have to heat it, brown it or add it to our stews or other dishes. I leave you the following recipes as examples.

1. Seitan steaks

Ingredients

A couple of large slices of seitan 2 tablespoons olive oil ¼ teaspoon thyme 2 tablespoons soy sauce

Preparation

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add the thyme. When it starts to fry add the seitan slices and brown them for 2-3 minutes on each side. Pour over the soy sauce, flip quickly a couple of times and take them out. Serve with vegetables, salad, mashed potatoes, etc.

2. Seitan stew with potatoes

Ingredients

2 cups roughly diced seitan 4 medium potatoes 2 tablespoons olive oil ½ medium leek ½ medium onion 1 plum tomato ½ medium red pepper ¼ teaspoon thyme 2 cloves ¼ teaspoon cumin (seed) 1 garlic clove, minced 1 bay leaf ½ stock cube of vegetables or ½ liter of homemade broth3 tablespoons of soy sauce

Preparation

Finely chop the leek and onion. Heat the oil in a medium nonstick pot or saucepan over medium heat and add the garlic and leek. Finely chop the tomato and add it. Chop the pepper and add it too. Add the garlic, thyme, cloves, cumin and bay leaf and fry it all together over low heat. Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes. Add them to the saucepan and stir well. Raise the heat and add the seitan. Let everything brown together for a minute and add the soy sauce, vegetable broth and enough water to cover everything. Put it on high heat and when it comes to a strong boil, put it on medium-low heat. Cook it all together, stirring occasionally when, until potatoes are done and tender.

If you want the broth a little thicker, mix 2 tablespoons of wholemeal flour with half a glass of water, add it to the saucepan, stir well and let it thicken a bit.

3. Seitan skewers

Ingredients

16 seitan cubes 8 small fresh mushrooms 1 red bell pepper 1 green bell pepper 1 medium onion 1-2 tablespoons olive oil Teriyaki or yakitori sauce

Preparation

Cut the mushrooms in half, the peppers in medium pieces (more or less like those of the seitan) and the onion in eighths or in medium pieces. Go inserting ingredients on skewers (4 large ones come out). Put a pinch of oil in a large frying pan non-stick or on skewers if you are going to grill them. Cook them over medium-low heat so that they cook with the juices from the vegetables. When they are golden, add a few drops of teriyaki or yakitori sauce, stir them a couple of times and take them out .