Seitan

Some call it say-tan, others say satan (yeah like the devil). But regardless of your thoughts on the pronunciation, this creation is a little bit or bite of heaven. Make no mistake about it; they taste like chewy pockets of Thanksgiving stuffing. The recipe I modified included mushrooms, sage and thyme, so you see how they'd resemble stuffing. 

Seitan is often called "wheat meat" or more descriptively as non-soy, meat substitute. It is made from vital wheat gluten flour, which actually is not a flour at all. It is the protein component of wheat flour,  or in other words the main protein in wheat flour. Vital wheat gluten is 75-80% protein because of the processing method where most of the bran and starch is removed. These proteins are responsible for the rise, texture and crumbs of breads and therefore often used for baked goods, and can be used as a lower carb option "flour" too. However, vital wheat gluten is also the main ingredient in fake meat products like seitan, or in Asian cuisine for mock duck, and even in Tofurky products. The description below from Happy Herbivore explains it again. 

"Although vital wheat gluten looks like a flour, it's not a "flour" like whole-wheat is a flour, rather it's powdered gluten. Gluten is the protein found in wheat. Its what gives bread its shape and pizza dough its elasticity. Vital wheat gluten is just the protein in a powdered form. It is made by washing wheat flour dough with water until all the starches dissolve, leaving just the gluten behind." http://happyherbivore.com/2012/01/what-vital-wheat-gluten/

So, the main ingredient in my mushroom and garlic seitan balls is this vital wheat gluten. Like I starting describing before my seitan balls included ingredients like mushrooms, thyme, sage, garlic, onion and veggie broth, which in combination closely resembles a stuffing recipe. Yummm delicious!

I've been obsessed with the seitan I made all week, so now it's all gone and time to think about making more. I don't think I'll even bother changing the recipe I used because they were so tasty.  

To make the seitan I first put the garlic and mushrooms in the food processors and pulsed until it was chopped in smaller bits. Then added those to a bowl with the rest of the wet ingredients and mixed. I then combined the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and added the wet ones in. I mixed again until it resembled dough and rolled out small ping pong balls. I baked them on  a cookie sheet with aluminum foil at 350 until they started to brown. I overbaked them probably because they were a little harder than I wanted. I really cannot say how long to bake them but I  would guess more than 15 minutes , you'll just have to keep an eye on them. 

wet ingredients
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/4 cup vegetable broth
• 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
dry ingredients
• 1 cup vital wheat gluten flour
• 1/3 cup whole wheat pastryflour
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoons onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper