Not So Evil: Seitan a versatile vegetarian option

Seitan is a culinary favorite in vegan and vegetarian cuisine, not “Satan,” the red guy with the tail and pitchfork.

While it might sound strange out loud, seitan (pronounced SAY-tahn) is a meat substitute used primarily in vegetarian or vegan dishes. Also known as “wheatmeat” or “wheat gluten,” seitan is similar to tofu — it shows up in a variety of entrees in lieu of meat.

Seitan is the product of only two ingredients: wheat flour and water. The dough created from these ingredients is kneaded under cold water, which leaches the starch from the dough. Extensive kneading ultimately results in a lump of wheat gluten that is 70 to 80 percent protein. From there, seitan can be anything you want — pork chops, chicken fingers, ground hamburger and more, depending on preparation methods and added spices.

“It’s just really versatile,” said John Cunningham, consumer research manager for The Vegetarian Resource Group in Maryland. “It’s pretty much only limited by your imagination, by what you can do with it.”

According to Ellen Tisdale, who runs the cooking Web site Ellenskitchen.com, seitan was first created by Buddhist monks in seventh-century China. The monks, who adhered to a strict vegetarian diet, set out to create suitable substitutes for meat, along the way creating tofu and seitan. With the spread of Buddhism, seitan spread from China to Japan, and from there to the United States. During the Great Depression, some families used seitan in faux meat loaves, calling the dish “End of the Month Loaf.”

In the Internet age, seitan has grown even more popular than before, Tisdale said.

“Over the last few years, it has seen a big increase (in use),” she said. “There are groups of blogs now that have wonderful pictures of the chunks people have made.”

Consumers interested in eating seitan have two options: they can either make it themselves or buy it already-prepared at the supermarket or specialized markets. Tisdale prefers to make her own using “vital wheat gluten,” which has already been purged of starch. Once Tisdale makes her wheat gluten dough, she mixes it with flavorful spices and simmers the dough in vegetarian broths. Depending on the broth’s flavor, seitan can take on the taste of any type of meat, from pork to chicken to shrimp. Seitan picks up any flavor remarkably, Tisdale said, and with fairly convincing results.

“If you’ve ever had imitation shrimp or crab legs, the little crab legs don’t taste exactly like crab, but a pleasant, chewy alternative,” she said. “That’s kind of what you would say about the seitan. It’s very much like imitation crab legs are to real crab. It’s a very pleasant substitute.”

Seitan is not the perfect solution for vegetarians everywhere. Cunningham said seitan sometimes digests poorly, giving a select few cramps and gas.

Oddly enough, seitan’s biggest attribute might sometimes be its downfall: it is almost too good at imitating meat, said Sara Alvarado, president of the student organization the Association for Vegan and Vegetarian Awareness at the University of Texas-Pan American. Alvarado, a vegan, said the more seitan looks like meat, the less comfortable she is with eating it.

“My favorite way (to eat seitan) is to have it mixed in with other things that don’t make it look like real meat,” she said. “If people are first making the switch to veganism, I think they are a lot more attuned to something like seitan. I think that it would be more like meat if someone is still trying to let go of that. It’s actually chewy. You can’t do that with tofu very well.”

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Kate Lohnes covers features and entertainment for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4427. For this and other local stories, visit www.themonitor.com.

RECIPES

QUICK HOMEMADE WHEATMEAT CUTLETS

2 c. vital wheat gluten

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. ground ginger

1 ¼ c. water or vegetable stock

3 Tbsp. tamari, Bragg’s liquid aminos or soy sauce

1-3 tsp. toasted sesame oil

Simmering broth:

4 c. water

¼ c. tamari or soy sauce

2 Tbsp. molasses (optional)

3-inch piece of kombu or 2 Tbsp. other sea vegetable

2 Tbsp. fresh ginger (optional)

Add garlic (optional) and ginger to gluten and stir. Mix liquids together and add to flour mixture all at once. Mix vigorously with a fork. When it forms a stiff dough, knead it 10 to 15 times. Let the dough rest 2-5 min., then knead it a few more times. Let it rest another 15 min. before proceeding.

Cut gluten into 6-8 pieces and stretch into 1-inch or thinner cutlets, or the desired shapes (cutlets, drumsticks, ribs, etc). Bring the broth to a boil. Add cutlets one at a time or they stick together. Simmer in broth for about 45 minutes with the pan covered and the heat very low. Once cooked and flavored the wheatmeat or “Seitan” may be used, refrigerated under water or in an airtight plastic bag, or frozen.

— Recipe courtesy of www.ellenskitchen.com.

ELLEN’S BEST UNCHUCK ROAST: ROOIBOOS-SIMMERED SEITAN/GLUTEN

Note: you can make the dough on the dough cycle of a large automatic bread machine.

Cook covered in 6-quart crock pot on low heat for approximately six to eight hours. Doubles in size as it cooks.

Place in the bread machine in this order:

2 ¼ c. vital wheat gluten

½ c. sesame butter, unhulled (4 ounces)

½ c. minute tapioca

½ c. Kal nutritional yeast flakes

1/3 cup dried onion flakes

½ c. soy flakes (not grits) OR flake tvp/tsp

2 Tbsp. Italian herb blend

Mix together, and pour on:

1/3 c. vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce

2 c. water

1 Tbsp. tamari soy sauce

1 Tbsp. rice syrup (optional)

Simmering broth for crock pot:

4-5 c. warm rooiboos tea (you may substitute Chinese black tea)

½ c. vegetarian oyster sauce

1 Tbsp. tamari soy sauce (optional)

¼ c. nutritional yeast flakes

Fill the mixing bowl of the bread machine with the dry ingredients, blend and pour on the wet mix and run the dough cycle - two kneads with a long rest in between. When complete, turn out the rather soft dough and knead by stretching and folding at least 6 times, until the piece has strong smooth edges and is the size of the bottom of the 6 quart crock pot- for best cooking and flavor, it should start about 1 inch thick or a little less. Mist with oil spray and let rest while you prepare the crock pot.

Mist the inside of the crock pot with non-stick oil spray. Mix the simmering broth, pour about 1 cup into the pot. Place the roast, then pour on the rest of the broth. It should just cover the roast, but if not make a little more broth using the same proportions.

Cover and simmer on low about 6 hours, up to 8 if you started cold or it is an old crock pot. Turn once. When done, there is no stretch to the edges; almost all the broth is absorbed.

Cool in the remaining broth, store in a zippered plastic bag with the remaining broth for up to a week. Good hot or cold, can be sliced very thin for sandwiches, pepper steak or fajitas, or cut into chunks for “stewing,” or diced or ground for hash, burgers, etc.

— Recipe courtesy of www.ellenskitchen.com.

QUICK HOMEMADE GLUTEN

2 c. gluten flour

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. ground ginger

1 ¼ c. water or vegetable stock

3 Tbsp. light tamari, Braggs liquid amino acids, or soy sauce

1-3 tsp. toasted sesame oil (optional)

Add garlic powder and ginger to flour and stir. Mix liquids together and add to flour mixture all at once. Mix vigorously with a fork. When it forms a stiff dough knead it 10 to 15 times.

Let the dough rest 2 to 5 minutes, then knead it a few more times. Let it rest another 15 minutes before proceeding.

Cut gluten into 6 to 8 pieces and stretch into thin cutlets. Simmer in broth for 30 to 60 minutes.

Broth:

4 cups water

¼ c. tamari or soy sauce

3-inch piece of kombu (a type of seaweed)

3-4 slices ginger (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring broth to a boil. Add cutlets one at a time. Reduce heat to barely simmer when saucepan is covered. Seitan may be used, refrigerated, or frozen at this point.

— Recipe courtesy of www.vrg.org.

SEITAN AND SHIITAKE MUSHROOM STROGANOFF

Vegetable cooking spray

1 Tbsp. oil

1 onion, chopped

8-12 ounces seitan cutlets, cut into chunks

1 carrot, finely cut or shredded

1 clove garlic, minced

1 c. sliced button mushrooms

6 to 10 dried or fresh shiitake mushrooms (If dried they need to be soaked for at least 30 minutes and then drained), sliced

1 Tbsp. Bragg liquid amino acids, lite tamari, or soy sauce

5 ounces silken light firm or extra firm tofu

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 Tbsp. arrowroot

1 tsp. sweetener

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

¼ c. chopped parsley, for garnish

Spray a wok or large sauté pan with cooking spray. Add the oil and heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion and seitan and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the carrot, garlic, and mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms release their water. Add liquid aminos and cook until almost all absorbed.

While the mushroom mixture is cooking blend the tofu, lemon juice, arrowroot, and sweetener in a blender or food processor until smooth.

Turn off heat and add the tofu mixture. Stir to combine. If heat is too high the tofu mixture will break apart and curdle. Add freshly ground pepper. Top with parsley and serve over hot noodles.

— Recipe courtesy of www.vrg.org.

BARBECUED SEITAN

Vegetable cooking spray

1 medium onion, diced

8-12 ounces seitan cutlets, cut into strips

¼ c. barbecue sauce

4 whole wheat buns, optional

Spray a skillet with cooking spray. Add the onion and sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes, adding water 1 tablespoon at a time if onion begins to stick. Cook until onion is translucent. Add the seitan strips and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes. Add barbecue sauce and stir to combine. Sauté until barbecue sauce is hot. Serve on whole wheat buns, if desired.

— Recipe courtesy of www.vrg.org.