"Chicken" Seitan Round Two

As promised in my last post, this recipe for chicken-style seitan uses nearly the same recipe but a completely different cooking method. I had been using the first version with much success for weeks when I realized that there was absolutely no way that it would hold up as "chicken"salad, which just happens to be the boyfriend's favorite.

The issue with the first method is that, for some applications, it is just too soft. If you want to make kebabs or sausages (or "chicken" salad, for that matter), then you need a much firmer seitan. In order to achieve this I followed the instructions I found online about making seitan sausages. In the most basic sense, you mix up the seitan and the broth and bake until firm. This allows you to cut it into cubes that actually retain their shape.

For the oven-baked version you will need:

1 cup vital wheat gluten

3 TBSP vegetarian chicken broth powder

2 tsp garlic granules

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

1 cup water (or a little more if you need it)

Just like you did for the stove top version, mix all of the dry ingredients together first. 

Add the water and mix with your hands until your dough forms. Turn the dough out onto the counter and knead a few times - remember this is gluten you're working with so don't overdo it on the kneading.

Form the dough into a log about 8 inches long and wrap it tightly in tin foil. The log will get longer as you wrap it, so make sure you have plenty of tin foil on each end.

Bake at 325 for 1 hour and 15 minutes, flipping it over once about half way through.

When you remove it from the oven, let it cool completely in the tin foil. Then you can stick it in the refrigerator or freeze it until you plan to use it. 

Tip: If your seitan tends to come out a little dry, freezing it and then thawing it helps to make it moist.

Look for my "chicken" salad recipe in the next post.