Pressure Cooking & Seitan
Of the vegetarian protein sources, my favorite by far is seitan - also known as wheat gluten. What is one man's poison is another's source of sustanance and so it is with wheat gluten and me.
The best seitan I have had is at Gobo Restaurant here in NYC. Their "Tender Seitan in Ginger Sauce" is divine and I have it almost every time I go. It is tender and delicious - not spongy in the slightest - and actually striated so it has a very meat like texture.
I'm working on my third batch of setian today. I used the kitchenaid to mix it and got a very stringy mass this time - which is great to me because I'm hoping it will translate to striated seitan. I've read that pressure cooking seitan is a good way to make it very tender so I am trying that today as well.
Here is what I did for posterity (and tweaking)
In a bowl put 1.25 cups of vital wheat gluten. Add 1/2 cup dry vermouth, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1 tbsp. olive oil and 1 tbsp. gomashio. Mix with dough hook on Kitchenaid for about 10 minutes. It came out as several masses, so I gave them a squeeze to give them some more cohesiveness.
Let mass rest for about 10-20 minutes.
Knead again for 4 minutes in Kitchenaid.
Take out masses and flatten as best you can and let rest on a board for 10 minutes.
Put 3.5 cups broth (I used Japanese dashi this time) and 1/2 cup red wine, into pressure cooker. Add seitan masses. Pressure cook for 20 minutes and do a slow cooldown on pressure cooker.
Results in about 30 minutes :) I'll let you know how it went!
Results
OK, that *totally worked*. The seitan is striated, and super tender. Plus: no frying, and it took like half the time of making regular seitan.
Tastes good. Fantastic texture. I am SO pleased right now!
N.
The best seitan I have had is at Gobo Restaurant here in NYC. Their "Tender Seitan in Ginger Sauce" is divine and I have it almost every time I go. It is tender and delicious - not spongy in the slightest - and actually striated so it has a very meat like texture.
I'm working on my third batch of setian today. I used the kitchenaid to mix it and got a very stringy mass this time - which is great to me because I'm hoping it will translate to striated seitan. I've read that pressure cooking seitan is a good way to make it very tender so I am trying that today as well.
Here is what I did for posterity (and tweaking)
In a bowl put 1.25 cups of vital wheat gluten. Add 1/2 cup dry vermouth, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1 tbsp. olive oil and 1 tbsp. gomashio. Mix with dough hook on Kitchenaid for about 10 minutes. It came out as several masses, so I gave them a squeeze to give them some more cohesiveness.
Let mass rest for about 10-20 minutes.
Knead again for 4 minutes in Kitchenaid.
Take out masses and flatten as best you can and let rest on a board for 10 minutes.
Put 3.5 cups broth (I used Japanese dashi this time) and 1/2 cup red wine, into pressure cooker. Add seitan masses. Pressure cook for 20 minutes and do a slow cooldown on pressure cooker.
Results in about 30 minutes :) I'll let you know how it went!
Results
OK, that *totally worked*. The seitan is striated, and super tender. Plus: no frying, and it took like half the time of making regular seitan.
Tastes good. Fantastic texture. I am SO pleased right now!
N.