Ready-made vegan meat flavouring for seitan?!
Ready-made vegan meat flavouring for seitan?
I've just been told that the 'fake-meat' I am looking for is seitan (thanks guys!) and was given some tips on how to season it. I'm feeling lazy though so was just wondering whether anyone knows of a ready made seasoning I could use and where i could buy it? thanks
Answers:
Hi Jenny,
you can buy ready made seasonings but seitan is really best to be creative with so it tastes like the dish you want it to taste like.
say you want to make pasta & "meatballs", you can either buy vegetarian pasta sauce. Knead the sauce into the dough & leave to season covered in sauce overnight (i've posted the method in my last answer).
cook your pasta, panfry your "meatballs", simmer your sauce & the meat balls bring back to a simmer & pour over your pasta.
basically, you can use any ready-made seasoning to do this. if you wanna do terriyaki "chicken" same method, except grill and baste instead.
really, all you have to do is treat it like you would meat (expt the kneading in and overnight bit) add the extra salt & herbs in the marinade & some veggie broth and use any seasoning.
if you've managed to find wheat gluten flour, it's really cheap & easy to make small batches & experiment with your own sauces & cooking methods. i would suggest you do that before using ready made sauces which can be expensive.
the trick is to get the flavour into the dough b4 you cook it.
here's a supper simple grilled "chicken" recipe to start you off:
make a marinade by mixing 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup veggie broth, pepper, salt & 2 cloves minced garlic.
to 1/2 a cup gluten/seitan dough add 1 tsp of tumeric powder, 1 tsp of salt and 1/4 cup of marinade, knead the marinade into the dough till it's an even colour. leave the dough to rest for a few mins.
place the dough on a baking sheet and cover it with another. press it flat and roll it down to a flat square about 1/2" thick. put your "chicken" on a deep plate or dish flat and cover it in the remainder marinade. cover with cling flim & leave overnight in the refridgerator.
when the "chicken" is ready (at least 8 hours), grill it on a grill pan for about 5mins on each side, basting it with the marinade.
when it's cooked slice the "chicken" and add it to a salad or on top of rice.
:-) have fun with your seitan.