Making Seitan

Yesterday I was really craving some mushroom stroganoff and a key ingredient in my stroganoff is seitan. I know many of your carnivorous people have never heard of the stuff, but as a former vegan and current vegetarian it is my favorite meat substitute. The main ingredient is vital wheat gluten. What is vital wheat gluten? Well basically it is wheat flour that has all of the starch and other chemicals removed, leaving just the gluten. Now you may be wondering what gluten is, well it is a protein composite consisting of 3 proteins. Basically it is the part of wheat that gives bread that slightly chewy texture.

Enough about the science of wheat gluten. Here is my recipe for basic seitan.

You will need:
1 cup vital wheat gluten, this can be found in the health food section of your grocery store
3/4 cup vegetable broth + 6 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons of the seasoning of your choice, usually i use an Italian seasoning blend

The first step is to mix the spices with the wheat gluten in a small bowl.

In a separate bowl mix the soy sauce and 3/4 cup vegetable broth. Then pour the broth mixture into the gluten and spice mixture. Still well to combine. You will end up with an extremely rubbery dough.

Now put the 6 cups of vegetable broth is a large pot and bring to simmer.

While you are waiting for the broth to simmer knead the ball of dough for about 10-15 minutes. Let it rest for 5 minutes and then knead a few more times. You will end of with a ball of dough that looks something like this.

Then roll the dough into a log and with a knife cut into 1/2" thick slices.

Now take the slices you have cut and stretch them into thin cutlets. This is slightly difficult since the dough is so rubbery..

After you have formed all of your "cutlets" drop them into the simmering broth and cover. Simmer them for an hour or two.
After they have finished cooking turn the heat off and let them cool in the broth.

This is what you should end up with.

Now you can either store your seitan in the refridgerator in a container with some of the cooking broth or you can freeze them.