But, since I am a human living on the planet earth, I still like fried things. And warm fried things on crispy salad with creamy dressing is a nice combination. So, I decided to make fried chicken-style seitan (from scratch) on mixed greens with a creamy vegan dressing. The special part was making seitan from scratch! Here's the recipe, which I found at VeganYumYum:
Chicken-Style Seitan
Makes four cutlets
1 1/2 Cup Vital Wheat Gluten
2 Tbs Nutritional Yeast
1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
3/4 Cup Cold Water
1 Tbs Tamari or Soy Sauce (low sodium)
3 Tbs Soymilk
1 Tbs Olive Oil
Braising Broth
2 Cups Water
1 Vegetable Bullion Cube
Mix the dry ingredients together. Combine the wet ingredients and stir well. Add wet to dry and knead until a dough is formed. Add more liquid if needed. The gluten will develop very quickly. Knead a few times on your counter, forming a ball. Cut the ball in quarters, forming four triangular wedges. Squish/Pound/Pull the wedges into 1/2″ thick cutlets. Take your time shaping, letting them rest if needed.
Once they’re the right thickness, put a large, high-walled skillet on medium heat, adding the water and bullion cube to make a braising bath. Once it starts simmering, add cutlets and turn down the heat and cover. It’s important that you DO NOT boil the cutlets. Check several times to make sure the broth is just barely simmering. Boiling isn’t a disaster, but it will change the texture of the cutlets, making them spongier and rubbery.
Simmer, covered for 20-30 minutes, flipping halfway through. You can now refrigerate the cutlets in their broth for later, or fry immediately. I think cutlets that have been refrigerated over night before frying have a better texture, but you can use them right away.
Fried Seitan
For four cutlets
4 Seitan Cutlets (recipe above)
32 Oz. High Heat Oil (for frying: canola, peanut, etc)
Seasoned Dry Mix
3 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
1/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast
1 1/2 Cup All Purpose flour
4 tsp Baking Powder
Wet Mix
1/3 Cup Seasoned Dry Mix
3 Tbs Mustard (dijon or stoneground)
1/4 Cup Water
1/4 Cup Soymilk (or more water)
Heat the oil to 350ยบ F in a 10″ skillet, cast-iron is best. Mix together all the dry ingredients except the baking powder. In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients together. Add baking powder to the remining dry ingredients and mix well.
When oil is heated, dip a seitan cutlet in the wet mix coating well. The dredge the cutlet in the dry mix and gently slip it into the oil. Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side, until golden brown and crispy. Drain well on a paper towel and slice if desired.
OK, this recipe worked PERFECTLY. If you've never made seitan before, you might be (as I was) astonished at how quickly the vital wheat gluten turns into a firm, rubbery blob when you add the wet ingredients. I didn't know how long to knead it, but I decided "not very long" would be fine, since my kneading of the blob didn't seem to be affecting it meaningfully. Seriously, I pushed at it like, three or four times and then gave up.
Second, I didn't really know what a cutlet was supposed to look like, so I just cut the blob into four pieces and it was fine.
My only other modification was to ramp up the Old Bay. I live in Maryland and Old Bay would be the official state spice blend, if such a thing existed. Also, I really, really like it. So, I added extra and it ruled.
It turned out SO DANG WELL. Omnivore sweetheart thought it looked and tasted like a cutlet, and enjoyed his salad very much. He says. Of course, he's far too sweet to tell me if it was vile, but I also liked it. I realize this is pretty subjective, but I've eaten a lot of seitan. The best I've had is at Jesse Wong's Asean Bistro, where they use a wheat gluten mock-meat in several dishes; the worst isn't bad, but it's mediocre: the overpriced packaged kind from the Natural Market. This was FANTASTIC - the texture was tender, the flavor was lovely.
I might have to add chloral hydrate to the recipe to get a truly honest opinion out of my Intrepid Companion. Pending a dose of truth serum, I declare this recipe an unqualified success.
2 comments:
I am not too sweet to give my actual opinion. I'm bad, not sweet, bad. I broke the law and the law won bad. With that said, the Seitan was excellent! It looked like a cutlet, when it was being cooked, it smelled like a cutlet. To be honest, it didn't taste like a cutlet, but it did taste good.
The worst thing I noticed about vegan substitutes in the last 8 or so months of eating them is often the texture, especially when they taste exactly or close to exactly like the dead animal they are replacing. When they taste close to the "mean" orginials, the texture of the soy, tempeh, gluten, etc... based foods often throws off my palate. When the vegan food tastes good, without serving as a meat "substitute" it is often, for me, a more pleasurable dining experience. The Seitan was one of these pleasurable experiences.
On the other hand, when the texture and taste do match the "substitute", that too is also a pleasurable experience. That's why Brent's Vegan Nice Cream Rocks!
Omnivore Out!
Cutie! Bad, bad cutie!
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