Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Sweet and Sour Seitan



I talked about it, now I choose to write about it.
First, a little info on seitan. Seitan is a meat substitute because it has the texture of meat, without all the tendons and fat. (haha) It is 1g fat and 18g protien. Seitan is really just soy sauce and wheat gluten boil together, vaguely speaking. To obtain seitan, you can buy the ingredients and make it yourself, or buy pre-made seitan at health food stores, co-ops, or other good food stores. Top Food and Haggen do not count.
I love seitan. It soaks up juicy flavors you cook with and has a good texture. I like it much more than tempeh, which is what the following recipe originally called for.

Sweet and Sour Seitan (pronounced say-tan..short a sound. blogger doesn't let me do the short "a" symbol)
adapted from Vegan Fusion

ingredients -
about 4 - 5 oz seitan
3T sesame oil
1 small onion chopped
2T ginger, peeled and minced
1/2 red bell pepper diced
3/4c water
9 - 11oz apricot preserves (I get mine at Trader Joes but I think you can find some in the jam section at any store)
2T arrowroot powder (or corn starch if arrowroot powder sounds crazy), dissolved in 1/4c cold water
5T soy sauce
2T apple cider
1T miso (which I rarely have and leave out most of the time)
1T sweet rice vinegar
2t cilantro
1/4t red pepper flakes

method -
1. Heat 1T sesame oil in skillet. Fry seitan on high for about 2 min. Put on a plate and set aside.
2. Heat 2T sesame oil in skillet.
3. Add onion, bell pepper, and ginger. Stir fry for 3 min.
4. Add water and apricot preserves, simmer for 10 min, stirring occasionally.
5. Add arrowroot (or cornstarch) mixture, stir for 2 min.
6. Add remaining ingredients except seitan.
7. Cook for 3 min. Sauce should be somewhat thickened. If not, add more arrowroot/water mix.
8. Add seitan and cook for 3 min.
9. Top with cilantro and enjoy!

Don't forget to serve over some brown rice!


2 comments:

Sierra said...

I'll have to see if I can track down some seitan in the Tri-Cities. I have never tried it. I'm encouraged that you think it's better than tempeh, though, because I really HATE tempeh!

Farmers Veggie Wife said...

If you can't track any down, you should really try to make some. Then you can freeze the leftovers for forever. It is pretty easy but Wheat Gluten is a bit expensive, I think, but it does make quite a bit.
If you can't track any down though, let me know, I shall bring some for you next time.