Secrets for perfect seitan

When I was an omnivore, I was sort of a meat-and-potatoes gal. Now, I'm a tofu/tempeh/seitan-and-potatoes/grains gal. I'm trying, really trying, to eat more veggies. I swear.

However, I believe I have perfected a technique to making seitan. Oh. You're not still buying it are you? Unless a recipe calls for the "chicken style" wheat meat (which I haven't perfected), make your own. It's cheaper, and you can decide the shape in which you make it. If you want "chops" or "wings," you really can't do that with the $5-an-eight-ounce-package store-bought stuff. Plus, this will eliminate the spongy texture some people get wtih seitan.

First, you want to start off with Vital Wheat Gluten or high-gluten flour. You can make seitan from whole wheat flour, but that takes a lot of flour and a lot of water, and you may as well save yourself some time. I use the Arrowhead Mills brand, but if you find another brand, whatever works for you, use it:

First, mix all the ingredients for your broth in a sauce pan or large pot. I use a five-quart saucepan, which is a little small, but it works for me. You can use vegetable broth, a recipe in a cookbook, or make up your own, but do NOT use just plain water. Let your broth sit in the pot while you mix the ingredients for your gluten. Most recipe books or your package of gluten should have the right proportions for making the dough. Use those.

Once you have the flour and water in the bowl, turn on the burner to heat up your broth. Stir the flour and water until it makes a dough, then dump onto a cutting board. Knead the dough--and you don't have to do the typical kneading, you can punch and prod and squeeze--until the water is coming close to boiling. Now, I typically make a double batch, using the whole box of gluten flour, so I separate the blob into two pieces and sort of shape them.

Once the broth comes to a boil, gently lower the dough blobs into the pot, lower to a simmer, cover, and cook for 50 minutes. You can, if you like, check the seitan every few minutes, but I usually don't. As I have warned you previously, it will expand greatly, so do not freak out. I use a smaller pot to keep the expansion under control and because the broth is deeper when I use a smaller pot rather than my pasta-boiling pot.

After the seitan is done, gently remove it from the pot and place into storage containers. Store the seitan with the cooking liquid. I usually place one container in the freezer and the other in the fridge. I have discovered that seitan is best if you do not use it the same day you make it. The texture will be chewier and not spongy, the bane of any seitan cook. The seitan will last up to a week in your fridge and longer in your freezer.

Now, that you know how to make a great seitan, get cookin'!