The "do it yourself" seitan. After seeing how to quickly prepare this food nutritious, rich in proteins, easily digestible and of excellent taste using already separated gluten, we will learn to do it from scratch (or rather, from flour and water), making the best alternative to meat you have ever eaten. Don't be scared: self-producing seitan is really child's play, as well as giving enormous satisfaction and saving money. I did it for the first time and I want to share this fantastic experience with you.
I assure, first of all, that excellent results can be obtained from the first attempt, giving life to a completely personalized food.
Those who are used to self-producing seitan, in fact, know how likely it is you never get the same result: even the slightest variation can give life to a product that is always different. For this it is better get to work and experiment, until you find the right procedure for your tastes.
The preparation consists mainly of three steps: the preparation of the dough, its "washing" and cooking in broth, which you can flavor not only with the most "classic" ingredients, that is onion, celery, carrot (more soy sauce e kombu seaweed, which are optional), but also with minced garlic, ginger, rosemary, sage, pepper and anything else you like.
Let's see how it went my first experiment in self-production of seitan.
ingredients:
1 kilo of flour manitoba (to obtain a stick of about 400-500 grams)
Vegetable broth (I used onion, carrot, celery, gomasio)
Soy sauce (about 6 tablespoons)
5 cm in kombu seaweed
Acqua
Preparation
Phase 1. Dough
Mix the flour and water, working the dough energetically and for about 15 minutes, until you get a mixture similar to that for pizza, smooth, compact and elastic. You can use the flour you prefer, I used Manitoba, which is a lot rich in gluten. Now the dough must be left to rest: there are different schools of thought on the timing, me anyway I waited an hour.
Phase 2. Washing
After the rest time, the funniest phase arrives, but also the most “tiring” one. The dough should be placed in a container, such as a basin or bowl, where it will come washed with water at room temperature (here too, there are those who use alternating cold and hot water). Squeeze and rinse the dough, changing the water several times.
Squeeze, wash, squeeze. Until it takes on a sponge-like consistency. At first the water will be as white as milk, then it will become more and more transparent, only then will you be finished. Don't throw it away, it's rich in starch: use it to water your plants (or to experiment with new recipes).
Then wrap the well-drained dough in a clean white napkin (the fabric you use must not contain traces of soaps, otherwise use gauze), carefully tied at the ends with kitchen twine (I used ribbons).
Phase 3. Cooking
In the meantime, bring your vegetable broth to a boil in a pan large enough to accommodate the bundle of seitan, which must be cooked over moderate heat for about 45 minutes, taking care of turn it halfway through cooking.
Once ready, take it out of the pot and let it cool. If you don't intend to use it right away, you can ckeep it together with the cooking water in the refrigerator for at least a week, whole or in slices, using in an airtight plastic container, or glass jar. Of course, the cooking broth can be used to make tasty soups.
Yes, I know, it was tough (but not too hard, right?!?), Though what a gratification!
Read also:
- How to make instant seitan yourself
- 8 valid alternatives to meat
