Another Attempt at Homemade Seitan

I made a second batch of homemade seitan, this time following the recipe I found in The Ethnic Vegetarian, which I've previously mentioned is becoming one of my favorite cookbooks. I know my aunt who gave me the book reads the blog -- so thanks!

This recipe has you mix the gluten with flavoring and water, and then it stops. There's no boiling or baking as part of the seitan recipe like in my first attempt. Instead, you cook it in whatever recipe you choose. I made this a week or so ago and kept it in the freezer waiting for the perfect time to use it.

Seitan recipe:
2 cups whole wheat gluten flour
1 teaspoon each: salt, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper
1 cup water
1 cup soymilk

Combine the dry ingredients, then add the water and soymilk to form a thick dough. Knead 10-15 times by hand, then let rest 5 minutes. Knead again 6-8 times, then place in a bowl, cover with a towel, and let rest in a warm spot for 15 minutes. The seitan is now ready to be cooked. At this point, I put it in the freezer in a zipper bag.

When I thawed it, it was still doughy and springy. I pounded it out, then sliced it into thin pieces. I fried them in a small amount of canola oil and crisped each side.


Then I placed the whole skillet in the oven and turned it off. (The oven had been on, baking my cauliflower -- I served these dishes together along with some Amy's Mac and Cheeze.) When I went to retrieve the seitan, it was all puffed up.

I returned the skillet to the stovetop and placed a potholder over the handle so as not to burn myself on it, after I made that mistake once. Then I poured on this sauce, the recipe for which I found in the Horizons cookbook. I was initially worried that I wouldn't have enough sauce, but these little pieces soaked up the sauce and it was really good. This reminded me of the fake chicken found in Chinese restuarants.

Sauce:
1/4 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon molasses
2 tablespoons agave syrup
Juice of 1/2 lime
2 teaspoons Caribbean or Jerk seasoning (I used a storebought mix)
freshly grated ginger

I mixed all that together and tasted it, then I decided to add a little sriracha, which almost surprises me because I typically don't like heat. I added a very, very little of this. Then I put it directly over the seitan in the skillet. It doesn't take long to cook this with the seitan because all the sugar will burn, you're basically just heating it against the seitan.

I think this is a recipe is a winner, at least for the texture of the seitan. I'm still working on how to properly flavor it, but I have some new ideas I'd like to try next time.