Making seitan stew with ready-made vital wheat gluten flour is very easy, especially after learning how to extract gluten from wheat flour. With ready-made gluten flour many recipes are prepared quickly, so making seitan stew will be a walk in the park, I promise you.
As you probably already know, you can find vital wheat gluten flour in stores (not the pre-mixed products for making vegetable burgers) in packages of 500 g or 1 kg, and it costs more than Manitoba or Kamut flour used to extract gluten manually. But in the end, the speed and convenience of preparing seitan more than repay this small extra expense. In any case, homemade seitan is still cheaper than the ready-made cooked seitan available commercially.
A tip I want to give you is not to make seitan with only vital wheat gluten: always add other flours to the dough to soften it and reduce the characteristic rubbery texture seitan acquires after cooking. Also, flavor the dough with any spices and aromatics you prefer.
The formula to follow is: 100 g of vital wheat gluten + 50 g of a flour of your choice (whole wheat, soy, cereal flours, rice, etc.).
In the recipe I will explain below the quantity is generous, for 6 people. Halve it if you don’t have too many mouths to feed. For example: 200 g of vital wheat gluten + 100 g of flour of your choice).
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 6 Servings
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients for Asian-style seasoning
- 10.6 oz (about 2 1/2 cups) vital wheat gluten flour (ready-made)
- 5.3 oz (about 1 1/4 cups) flour (mixed flours of your choice)
- 2 cups water (for the dough)
- to taste seasonings and spices (a mix of curry, paprika, cumin, coriander, chili, garlic and onion powder, oregano, basil, black pepper)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste (dissolved in the dough water)
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 13 cups (≈3 L) vegetable broth (carrot, celery, onion, parsley, fresh ginger, one kombu seaweed leaf, 1 tablespoon tomato paste, 3 tablespoons soy sauce)
Preparation
1 – Weigh the vital wheat gluten flour in a bowl and add the flour of your choice, mix well.
Dissolve the tomato paste and the mixed spices in half of the water for the dough and pour it over the flours.2 – Knead the mixture and then add the other half of the water, the oil and the soy sauce. Continue to work it well until it becomes a soft and elastic dough.
The amount of water for the dough may vary depending on the humidity of the flour and how much it absorbs; for this quantity you will use roughly 1 3/4–2 cups of water (about 420–450 ml).3 – Let the dough rest for 10 minutes and meanwhile prepare the vegetable broth.
In a pot pour 3 liters of water to make the broth and add the mixed vegetables, the seaweed, the ginger and the soy sauce. Adjust the broth flavor with a teaspoon of salt if necessary.4 – When the broth is ready, blend the vegetables from the broth directly in the pot with an immersion blender. Take the seitan dough in your hands and, with scissors, cut small pieces to immerse in the broth. Cook the seitan over medium-low heat for 30 minutes.
5 – Cut the seitan into very small pieces, because it increases in volume during cooking.6 – Serve the stew as is, or sauté it in a pan “alla pizzaiola” with tomato and oregano, or after draining from the broth flour the pieces and pan-fry them with oil and a squeeze of lemon.
