Note: This recipe calls for Vital Wheat Gluten, which can be hard to find in a store. It is available online: here on amazon
Basic Seitan
Makes 6 cutlets- 1 Cup Vital Wheat Gluten
- 3 TBSP Nutritional Yeast
- 1 tsp Oregano or herb of your choice
- 1.5 TBSP Soy Sauce
- 1/2 cup Vegetable Broth
Method: Pre-heat the oven to 190 c / 375 f. In a mixing bowl, combine the vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, and oregano. In a separate smaller bowl, combine the soy sauce and vegetable broth.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture and knead the dough with your hands. Continue kneading until the dough won't absorb any more flour - about 10 minutes or so. For me, there was still a bit of flour left in the bowl.
On a floured surface (I did it on my cutting board), use a rolling pin to roll out the dough as thin as you can. It is very stretchy, so it might not get that thin, just do your best to get it into a rectangle shape. Using a very sharp knife, cut it into 6 equal pieces (I did it by cutting the dough in half widthwise and then cutting it into thirds lengthwise).
Put the cutlets on an oiled cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Using a spatula, flip them over and bake for another ten minutes, until they are browned and look crispy. They should puff up quite a lot, when you take them out the oven you may want to cut them in half again. Add to stir fries or eat with ketchup or whatever else you like. The great thing about this recipe is how flexible it is! Try it with other herbs and flavors to come up with other versions of it.