I made seitan, what now?

[HarryVanderspeigle]

First time making seitan. It said to simmer it in veg stock with onion and garlic powder. It's got a good texture, but just tastes of stock. Anyone got any suggestion on how to use it to make tasty meals? It was fun yo make, so would like to try again.

How difficult was it @HarryVanderspeigle . I fancy a go but always looks so long winded.
when I buy seitan I marinate in things with lots of umami, so soy sauce, garlic, mushroom ketchup, miso, maybe chilli or adding some maple syrup hen fry it to get a crust gaping- nice texture and the caramelisation helps.

@Keepingthingsinteresting I found it easy, although might have been beginners luck. Followed a washed flour recipe. Made a dough with flour and water, knead and leave in water. Then swirl the dough to wash out the starch, few water changes, plait, knot and simmer gently for an hour.

Those marinades sound good, thank you.

I've made seitan using gluten powder - shaped into sausages and steamed.
I slice it and fry with mushrooms and onions, add to rice with jollof seasoning, or chop for "sausage roll filling" in puff pastry. The mushrooms give it a deeper, interesting flavour.
You can get mushroom powder to add to the boiling stock or directly to the seitan - i think it's called "umami seasoning"

What stock did you use? Perhaps home made stock or the water from rehydrating dried mushrooms would give better flavour.

Mushroom powder is a good idea. Searching on tesco, they have sometimes called umami paste that would probably work well too. Thank you!

It was boullion, so yes that sounds good, thank you

I make my own seitan from gluten flour too. I mix nutritional yeast, smoked paprika, garlic powder, oregano in mine + some olive oil, it tastes rubbery without the fat .
It works great in any Asian stir- fry recipe or as a steak with mushroom gravy. Anything with a tasty sauce/gravy really.

I am another that uses soy sauce, miso paste, paprika, nootch etc anything I can get my hands on to flavour and I agree with adding a bit of fat, that’s a great point.

In terms of your stock itself as base for what type of meat you are imitating my tips would be:
Onion stock = beefy
Mushroom stock + garlic + bay leaves = chickeny

Meal ideas… add chunks into stir fries or stews, slice thinly for sandwiches, shred with a knife and fork (only works if well kneaded when making the dough) for tacos and pies. I also like making a seitan roast, so instead of boiling the dough in stock, I knead it for ages and then wrap it in cheese cloth in a log shape, tie the ends with twine, and sit it in a roasting tin with the stock coming halfway up the ‘joint’ and turn it during cooking a couple of times, topping up the stock if needs be. You can let it cool when it’s done cooking through, take the cheese cloth off and pop it back in the oven or sear it in a pan after too for extra nice texture, I would sear it in some tamari. I do think tamari is better than soy sauce for making seitan as it has no sweetness, just umami.