Gluten Wheat-Protein, Meat Like Chunks Or Seitan-How to Make?
Seitan
Mamta Gupta
On one of our trips to Singapore in 2007, we were taken to a vegetarian Chinese restaurant by a friend. I had just recently stopped eating meat, but everyone else in our family did. So he took us to this restaurant which made all their Chinese 'meat/poultry/seafood' dishes using vegetarian protein 'Sietan'. They all tasted like meat/chicken/fish. They were all delicious, superb. My husband, the meat lover, loved all the dishes.
The lady/manager in the restaurant described the process of making it to me roughly. This was before the days of internet, where you can find everything now.
Anyway, I tried making it at home and discovered that it is surprisingly easy to make, though not as professional as theirs. On the plus side, home made Sietan is not only fresh, it has no additives. I am sure that it can be made from other flours too, like rye, oat, barley and spelt, but I have not tried making it.
It is very useful for people who, like me, like the taste and texture of the meat but do not want to eat it for ethical/other reasons. It is not suitable for you, if you are allergic to gluten. It tastes closer to meat texture than Soya or other meat substitutes. It makes roughly half the weight of the amount of flour you use. This amount is enough for 1-2.
Edited July 2023
Ingredients
2 cups of chapatti or whole meal/white flour
Water to make a soft dough
Plenty of cold water to wash dough
3-4 cups of water to boil washed chunks of gluten
1-2 tsp. light/dark Soya sauce or Magie's type of liquid seasoning. If looking for meat colour Sietan, these give a nice colour.
A couple of vegetable stock cubes or salt and flavours like ginger, onions, herbs, added to a pot of boiling water.
Instructions
Make a soft dough with as much water as required. I don't knead it too much at this stage.
Leave for 10 minutes and knead it again to get it smooth.
Leave it for a couple of hours.
Washing the Dough: Place dough in a bowl full of cold tap water.
Knead it in water, the water will get creamy/muddy, discard it.
Knead and wash again and again, until the water that runs is clear. You may need 10-20 changes of water until this happens. What you are trying to do is to wash off the starch part of the flour. The last wash should be clear.
Preparing Gluten for cooking
You are left with a stretchy, stringy mass, which is approximately half the size of your original dough ball. This is 'gluten' wheat protein or Seitan.
You can flavour it at this stage directly, by adding things to to it, or later, by cooking it in flavoured water/stock.
Roll out the stretchy gluten ball thickly and cut into meat sized chunks, or into whatever shapes you want, e.g. shredded pieces or the shape of a steak.
Boil 3-4 cups of water in a pan and season/flavour it with your chosen flavour (none/vegetable stock cube/Soya or seasoning sauce etc.).
Add Soya chunks, or other shapes like steak, to it and simmer for 20-30 minutes. The pieces will swell up a little and float in water.
Drain, cool and store in the fridge, ready for use.
Seitan can be frozen.
You can use the leftover stock for making soups or add to casseroles/curries. Just remember that it is already salted.
