Basic 'chicken' seitan

If you haven't made seitan before, I recommend you read my introduction to the process here. 

 

The basic proportions for making seitan are 1/4 cup of water to 1/2 cup flour.  However, this is somewhat excessively basic and the following recipe is a more appropriate basic 'chicken' recipe. 

 

Before we go any further, and at the risk of shattering all your hopes and illusions, seitan doesn’t taste remotely like chicken. I say this as someone who hasn’t eat chicken for well over a decade, but for all that, I say it with some certainty. I don’t want anyone to be disappointed.

 

This is the one to use if you are copying a tofu recipe: add the seasoning suggested for the marinade (if any) to the dry ingredients.  This 'chicken' can also be used to replace beans and chickpeas in various recipes or even to replace the meat in a well-flavoured chicken dish.  However, I wouldn't recommend serving a slab of it on a plate, with roast potatoes, two veg and gravy!

Serves  2

Ingredients

        1/3 cup  vital wheat gluten

        2 tbsp gram flour

        2 tsp nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp mushroom 'stock' powder

        1/4 tsp onion powder

        1/4 tsp garlic granules

       

1/4 cup water

1 tbsp soya sauce

 

Method:

• In a bowl, mix vital wheat gluten, gram flour, nutritional yeast, mushroom stock powder, salt, onion powder and garlic granules.
• In a small jug, mix the water and soya sauce and add them to the bowl.  Combine everything into a soft dough, starting with a knife or spatula and ending with your hand. If the mix seems a little bit dry, add some more water, a teaspoonful at a time. If too wet, carefully add some more vital wheat gluten.  Use the dough to clean your bowl thoroughly, otherwise the dried seitan will need to be soaked off.
• Put the dough on a board and flatten it down. You will be cutting it into bite-sized chunks, so it wants to be a suitable thickness.
• Put the trivet into your pressure cooker, along with ½ cup water. Place the seitan on the trivet, and bring up to pressure for 5 minutes. Let the pressure go down naturally.
• When you can take the lid off, take out the seitan and cut it up – or tear it for a more ‛organic’ appearance.
• If you want to, you can now fry the chunks in some oil so that they are crisp on the outside. On odds, I think I prefer them soft.

The seitan can now be added to your recipes and, simmered for as long as suits you.  Because it's completely cooked, it only needs reheating; however, it is robust and doesn't start to dissolve - I've often simmered it for about 20 minutes.  It is also quite happy to be shoved around by the spoon without collapsing.  I've seen recipes for tofu kebabs and this seitan, suitably flavoured, should also be a success in this context, too.

 You will find many more recipes for seitan here