Four and a half years ago, Naz Hamid wrote an article for One Good Meal called "The Finest in Fake Meats" about how to make your own seitan. I found it interesting but never bothered trying it because I wasn't a vegetarian and the couple times a year that I cook with seitan, it seemed easier to just pick up a packet of pre-made seitan (also called gluten or wheat-meat) than it did to make my own.
And I realized as I turned up my nose at the Chix patties and frozen veggie burger patties in the freezer section, but headed to the refrigerator case looking for seitan, that I was being hypocritical. I was turning up my nose at pre-made food while buying pre-made food. So I turned to Naz's archived column, realized it didn't sound too hard to make my own — but then I wondered what I would do with it.
Whether you make your own or buy it in the refrigerated package, you still need ideas on what to make with seitan. Aside from eating barbecue seitan sandwiches, I realized I needed more options. So I turned to the internet because Julia Child never cooked with the stuff.
While it has more flavor than tofu, it still needs seasoning. A lot of seasoning. That's why barbecue seitan sandwiches are so popular at restaurants. They're easy and flavorful. Slice seitan, warm it in barbecue sauce, and then serve on a bun is an easy way to make a meal.
If you're not making your own seitan, you'll have to add your flavoring to what you cook it in. There are lots of Asian sauces that provide a lot of flavor in a small amount of sauce: teriyaki, ponzu, hoisin, sriracha, plum sauce or any bottled "stir-fry sauce." Since seitan is firmer than tofu and doesn't require pressing, you can just slice the seitan into bite-sized pieces, sauté it with some onion and garlic, pour on some bottled sauce, let it cook for a few minutes while stirring constantly, and then throw in a few handfuls of vegetables to cook for another few minutes and serve over rice for a quick and easy stir fry.
Despite the history of seitan (created by Buddhist monks looking for a tofu alternative and then made popular in Japan) I wanted to find ways to cook it that weren't as obviously influenced by Asian ingredients. Because it is so firm, it can easily be tossed into chili and stew recipes, thrown into pots of beans, substituted in casseroles, tossed into pasta sauce, cooked in enchiladas, or even roasted with vegetables the way you would a beef or pork roast.
But because it generally lacks a great deal of flavor on its own, it should be flavored before it is added to any of these dishes. You can create a marinade and soak the seitan pieces in it overnight (or for days), you can create a very strongly flavored sauce and saute the pieces in it, or you can fry the pieces in a little oil and cook your spices in the same oil to create an aromatic start to your dish.
Here are a few different mixes of spices and herbs to coat and cook your seitan in, along with an idea for a few different ways to use it. These are the amounts I recommend for one pound of seitan. Alternatively, these mixtures will also be good for a pound of chicken, pork or beef pieces. Simply add 1 tablespoon of olive or cooking oil to a skillet placed over medium heat. Add the seitan chopped to your desired size and then sprinkle this mixture over it. Stir to coat everything evenly and then cook for 7-10 minutes or until the spices start to smell nutty and you've got crispiness on the seitan.
Spicy Blend for use in tacos, enchiladas, or anywhere else you want a little spice.
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of paprika
1 1/2 teaspoon of cumin
1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper or 1 teaspoon of chile powder
Italian Blend for adding to any pasta sauce or baked pasta recipe, including lasagna.
4 teaspoons of dried parsley
2 teaspoons of dried basil
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon of dried rosemary
1 tablespoon of tomato paste (or 1 teaspoon of tomato powder)
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
1 teaspoon of onion powder
Chicken Substitute Blend to add to any casserole that calls for chicken pieces.
1 teaspoon of sage
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of dried rosemary (ground or leaves)
1 teaspoon of thyme
1/2 teaspoon of dried mustard
Here are a few previously published recipes from "One Good Meal" with seitan substitution directions:
Cut this recipe for Ropa Vieja in half and substitute seitan for the flank steak without changing any of the other ingredients or steps in the dish. Or you can simply add two pounds of seitan and keep the recipe as it is. The leftovers would freeze well.
Seitan can directly substitute into this recipe for Baked Ginger Chicken with no alterations to the recipe.
Mojo Sauce makes a great marinade for seitan that you can cook under the broiler for about 3-4 minutes.
This Dill Marinade with Vegetables would also work great with seitan.
And these sauce recipes will also work great with seitan instead of chicken breasts.
This comforting lasagna recipe includes tips on substituting fake-meat for the traditional beef/pork mix.
The Spicy Blend above would go great in this enchilada recipe.
Many vegetarians find the texture of seitan off-putting since it closely resembles the texture of cooked meat. Since I enjoy meat, I don't have that hang-up. If you're worried that you'll hate meat substitutes, buy a package of seitan and give it a try. At worst, you'll end up ordering a pizza because you do indeed hate it. At best, you may have found a way to cut just a little bit of cholesterol and saturated fat out of your diet while giving yourself even more cooking options.
jen / March 31, 2008 10:45 AM
a question for you or naz - it wasn't mentioned in his recipe, but let's say you make your own seitan. how long can you keep it for, and how should it be stored?