Homemade Seitan, 'the vegetarians' meat'

Name: Homemade Seitan, 'the vegetarians' meat'
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 3 h
Cuisine: Romanian
Ingredients: 700 grame wheat flour; jumătate celery; 1 carrot; 1 onion; 3,5 litri water (for the vegetable stock); salt (a little); cold water (for the dough); 1 bucată, apx. 30cm/30cm cheesecloth

Total 3 h Prep 5 min Cook 45 min Fasting

Automatically translated from Romanian. See the Romanian original

Photo from the recipe Homemade Seitan, 'the vegetarians' meat'

Homemade seitan, 'the vegetarians' meat' — a wheat flour dough washed of its starch, boiled over medium heat in a flavorful vegetable stock, then sliced and ready to be cooked in recipes just like meat.

Ingredients

Method

Bring 3.5 liters of water to a boil in a pot along with the cleaned, roughly chopped vegetables and a little salt for the vegetable stock.
While the stock is boiling, prepare the seitan dough: place the flour in a bowl and gradually add cold water until you get a dough like for pizza. Knead for 5 minutes.
Wash the dough: place it in a bowl and wash it with alternating warm and cold water, squeezing and rinsing multiple times until the water runs clear (all the starch has been removed).
Do not throw away the rinsing water, as it is rich in starch — it can be used to feed plants.
Wrap the dough in the cheesecloth, give it a cylindrical sausage shape, and tie the ends with the cheesecloth or kitchen twine.
Submerge the package in the boiling soup and leave it over medium heat for approximately 45 minutes.
Turn off the heat and let the seitan cool in the soup.
Remove the cheesecloth and cut the seitan into slices about 1 cm thick.
Store the seitan in the refrigerator for up to 10 days, in a container covered with the material it was cooked in.

The story behind this recipe

Seitan, called 'wheat meat' for its high protein content and appearance similar to meat, is a perfect food for those following a vegetarian or vegan diet.

Practically, seitan is a dough derived from wheat flour, obtained by separating the gluten from the starch and bran.

Being entirely plant-based, seitan is easily digestible, but it does contain gluten.

100g of seitan provides about 168 calories to the body.

It is rich in protein and also has some important vitamins, such as B12, and essential minerals, like iron.

How we will prepare seitan at home, I will explain below:

(This is a base recipe! You can add spices to taste, and play with flavors and colors)

We need:

700 grams of wheat flour

half a celery root

1 carrot

1 onion

1 piece of cheesecloth approx 30cm/30cm

First, we prepare the vegetable stock, and while it boils, we take care of the seitan.

We bring 3.5 liters of water to a boil in a pot, along with the cleaned and roughly chopped vegetables (as in the photo) and a little salt.

In the first phase, for the seitan, we make the dough. We put the flour in a bowl and add cold water gradually, until we obtain a dough like for pizza. We knead it for 5 minutes.

The second phase of preparation consists of 'washing': place the dough in a bowl and wash it with alternating warm and cold water. Squeeze and rinse multiple times. Continue until the water is clear: which means you have removed all the starch from the mixture.

!!!Do not throw away the rinsing water: it is rich in starch and you can use it to feed your plants at home.

At this point, wrap the dough in the cheesecloth and give it a cylindrical, sausage-like shape, then tie it at the ends with the piece of cheesecloth or kitchen twine.

Submerge the package in the boiling soup, and leave it on medium heat for approximately 45 minutes.

After turning off the heat, we leave the seitan to cool in the soup.

Remove the cheesecloth and cut it into slices, about 1 cm thick. You can keep the seitan in the refrigerator for up to 10 days by placing it in a container covered with the material in which you cooked it.

Recipes for cooking seitan

Seitan can be cooked in many ways and quite quickly: fried with breadcrumbs, grilled, cubed in stew, sautéed, in pasta, in meatballs, etc. Practically, you treat it as if it were a piece of meat.

I wish you patience to make it, and inspiration for using it in recipes :)

## Source: Facebook (2018-11-01)

November 1st - World Vegan Day!

In their honor, I prepared Seitan, the vegetarians' meat, full of protein, iron, calcium, and vitamin B12.

Preparing it requires a lot of patience and time (approx. 3 hours).

Below you have the step-by-step recipe: ⬇️

https://anamariagateste.blogspot.com/2018/11/seitan-carnea-vegetarienilor.html?m=1