TaDa! I have a question please??

[Nigel]

Hi there,
Do you make your own seitan?
If so, do you have a recipe to share with me?
If not, can you tell me what brand you get? I have not been able to find any already made in the stores here.
Thank you in advance for any help on this.

[TaDa!]

Nigel I have only used pre-made, pre-seasoned products I find in the cold case at Whole Foods. Really the most I have eaten of seitan has been at Chinese Vegetarian buffet restaurants in China Town where they make all the traditional chinese dishes using fake seitan versions of the meats ... actually it is the only Chinese I will eat because I have convinced myself they sneak animal fat and bits into those dark sauces, lol.

In one of the earlier versions of the "How to lowcarb as a vegetarian" that I posted in 2006, a few learned seitan folk hopped in with great information ... here it is! Hope it helps!! You seem like a real "jump in and try the recipe" kinda guy .. so this might appeal to you!!!!

Originally Posted by stargirl21

Homemade Seitan :: theppk.com Vegan Recipe Database

My Personal Favorite: Post Punk Kitchen Forums/ Seitan O'Greatness.

Originally Posted by Jake

I had read about it on the internet at some point and was just dying to try it myself. Here's a very basic process:

Take about half a bag of whole wheat flour, put it in a large bowl, and add water, 1/2 cup at a time until you get a sticky dough. Let the dough rest for about 20 minutes or so.

Next, knead the dough just enough to get it to ball up and be easy-ish to handle. Now comes the fascinating part - you'll take the dough to the sink, and rinse it. Keep a bowl under the faucet, and run the water over the dough in a light stream while you squeeze and knead the dough. The water will begin to rinse away the starch.

This part takes a long time, but you find the dough becoming spongy in your hands - once the starch is rinsed away, and the dough is all spongy, and the water is running clear (not coudy), and your hands hurt like hell, you now have raw seitan.

From here, the seitan goes in a pot of broth - bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for about an hour. After that, you can slice it, chunk it, whatever, and use it in recipes.

In addition to my babbling, Wiki has a much better explanation:
Cookbook:Seitan - Wikibooks, collection of open-content textbooks

hmmm .. now re-reading it, I want to try it too, lol!!!!!



Pauline

[Nigel]

Thank you so much for this.
We don't have a whole foods around here anywhere.
Small town, small choices, I reckon.
I sure do appreciate all your help.

[TaDa!]

no problem Nigel! I also saw a "mix" online to make one's own seitan .. I believe it is supposed to require less cooking, etc. Interesting!

I will have a look at my local supermarket to see if I can spot any there. I know I can get tempeh at my local (small) supermarket, which is kinda surprising. That stuff is generally in the cold case of the produce section with the blocks of tofu and the weird fake slices of "sandwich meat" ..

[MsBlondeGRIT]

Nigel, I know this is off topic but I LOVE the pic of your bulldog!! We are a big English bulldog loving family

[Nigel]

Originally Posted by MsBlondeGRIT

Nigel, I know this is off topic but I LOVE the pic of your bulldog!! We are a big English bulldog loving family

Thank you. he's my pal--doesn't know he's a dog either. Every time I eat something, he has to have a bite or two.

[jodieleigh]

You can make your own seitan?! Wow!

[TaDa!]

Really cool Jodie! I happened to be surfing today and found this additional great info on Seitan from the Vegetarian Resource Group: SEITAN--THE VEGETARIAN WHEAT MEAT -- The Vegetarian Resource Group.

Nigel - specific brands are mentioned that I have seen in the regular supermarket for other products .. lightlife and white wave.

The recipes look like real winners too!! I think all of them can be easily made low or lower carb. I find this one particularly interesting: Seitan and Shiitake Mushroom Stroganoff .. To lowcarb it, I'd serve it over shirataki/sheratake noodles!

Unfortunately mushrooms are one of those vegetables my vegetarian children refuse to eat and can only be served stealthily so it will be a while before I get to try it, lol!

Darn kids!

Pauline

[TaDa!]

Ok .... hahahahaha now you'll know exactly what I was surfing this very very very early Sunday morning. I was up at 4 am to bring dd and friend to a regatta .. ahhhhhh .. and so have been on the computer since I got back deleriously surfing for lower carb vegetarian recipes to try for Thanksgiving .. and I just found this awesome looking one that uses seitan!

Pumpkin Stuffed with Vegetable Stew Recipe at Epicurious.com

Sadly, it also has a full complement of mushrooms, lol! To lc it, I would either cut out or cut down drastically on the amount of parsnip as it is very sugary. For a special occasion meal, I personally would not stress some carrots .. but anyhow, thought I'd pop it in this thread in case anyone is "Seitan surfing" here at lcf and comes upon this thread, lol!

P

[Nigel]

Thank you ... thank you ... thank you. Have a great Sunday!!