Seitan - anyone make this? Or buy it/cook with it?

[Mykittensmittens]

Saw this referenced on a cooking show, wasn’t paying a lot of attention at the time - but afterwards it got me thinking. Many years ago I used to eat at a fabulous Cantonese restaurant which has now closed. One of their dishes was ‘mock chicken’ - and it was like no other meat alternative I’ve ever had (I am veggie). I used to ask how it was made, but was always told that it was gluten based and made like a dough. The restaurant has long since closed. It was slightly spongey and had some bubbles in it somehow!

I am now assuming that was Seiten? If so, I want to have a go.

Has anyone else made this, used this, bought it made (is that even a thing?) or does anyone have any good resources they can recommend please? I believe you need vital wheat gluten so I’ve added some to my Amazon list today (it’s expensive!?).

thanks so much.

I've never made it but have eaten it. DH is vegan and sometimes buys a jar of the Biona marinated seitan to put in stir fries.

If you look for "mock duck" you can get some other pre-prepared versions in packets/jars/tins.

The mock chicken sounds more like extra firm tofu than seitan, but seitan is very meatlike in texture. I've never made it but have bought it.

I just watched someone make this on instagram yesterday - it looked really easy. I’m going to see if I can find a good tutorial online.

I got a new plant based boom that has it in a lot of recipes that look worth trying but I’ve not managed to find any yet. Because I’ve only made a poor effort to look.

@KakiFruit it was one in the same thing - anything on the menu made with ‘mock chicken or mock duck’ in ‘whatever’ sauce - so I think it’s the same thing.

@WildAndFree123 please let me know? I may do some homework too! I don’t even recall what I was watching - it was Sara Cox presenting and it was takeaways - one offered was sentien ‘chicken’ and the tasters loved it. I do enjoy tofu and other protein alternatives but I’d love
to have that ‘mock’ chicken again it was so nice!

@KakiFruit it was one in the same thing - anything on the menu made with ‘mock chicken or mock duck’ in ‘whatever’ sauce - so I think it’s the same thing.

Sorry I don't understand?

You said it was a bit spongy and bubbly which is accurate for tofu but not for seitan.

We make it all the time. Just buy a bag of vital wheat gluten

I am vegetarian and make this recipe all the time because it is so quick and either make it in the sauce or once steamed add it to whatever dish I am making. I adjust the seasonings depending on what I am making, but as is it is great. It gets more meaty the second day. https://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/the-quickest-and-easiest-seitan-recipe-vegan-chicken/#recipe

I've made it a few different ways. The one that turned out best was the classic way using bread flour. Using vital wheat gluten just wasn't as good for me. However the classic way takes forever.

You make a dough with strong bread flour and water, no yeast etc. Use a dough hook on a mixer to kneed it for longer than you would Bread. Leave it to let the gluten develop and then kneed a bit more.

You then are ready to wash the starch off, which means kneeding it in a bowl of cold water. You keep changing the water until it runs clear. What you are left with is pretty much pure gluten.

Shape it into a loaf or cut into small pieces and boil it in stock, or whatever flavoured liquid works for you. Keep it in a jar in the fridge in the cooking liquid for a week or so.

Use in whatever recipe you like, treat as quorn or tofu.

Yes we make it, and I would agree it was what you had at the restaurant - there are different methods resulting in different textures (eg boiled vs steamed vs baked).

Holland and Barrett sell vital wheat gluten fairly cheap (used to be about £2, I haven't got any for a while so it might be more now).

Thank you.

sorry if I was confusing @KakiFruit - I meant the dish I had was ‘mock chicken’ but the menu said they could also make it as ‘mock duck’. It wasn’t tofu. I eat that all the time! Different texture, more meaty.

thanks @Magenta82 and others - I’m really keen to have a go and make bread often so I’m hoping it’s familiar territory.