Several weeks ago I promised ya’ll that I would share a recipe for making your own seitan, and I’m finally delivering on that promise. This week’s Stretch Your Food Dollar is all about the actual process of making seitan from scratch. And in the weeks to follow, I’ll share some delicious recipes for using that seitan to make tasty meals.

What is seitan, you ask? Originally developed in ancient China, seitan (often called “wheat meat” or kofu) is a gluten dough that is cooked with ginger, kombu (edible kelp), and tamari (a type of soy sauce). Seitan can be used as a substitute for meat and often graces the menus of vegetarian and Asian restaurants. High in protein and low in fat, it is nutrient dense and can fulfill 90% of your daily protein needs with just a 5 ounce serving. Although seitan is available commercially at most grocery stores, it is cheaper to make it yourself. One pound of seitan can cost $7 at the store, but if you make it at home, a one pound recipe will cost only $2.50.

The following recipe is from Ron Pickarski’s Friendly Foods. Pickarski is the only certified master chef in the United States who is a vegan chef. If you would rather buy a prepared seitan mix instead of gathering the ingredients yourself, Arrowhead Mills offers a Quick Seitan Mix that is available at natural food stores.

Homemade Seitan
6 cups whole wheat flour or high-gluten white flour
3 cups water
1/2 cup tamari
12 slices fresh ginger, each 1/8″ thick
1 piece kombu, about 3 inches long

1. Mix the flour and water by hand to make a medium-stiff, but not sticky, dough.

2. Knead the dough by hand until it has the consistency of an earlobe. Or, knead the dough in a mixer with a bread hook until the dough forms a ball that follows the path of the hook around the bowl. You may need to add a little extra water to achieve the desired consistency. Kneading will take 10-12 minutes by hand and 6-8 minutes by machine.

3. Allow the dough to rest in a bowl of cold water for about 10 minutes.

4. While the dough is resting, prepare your stock. In a large pot, bring 3 quarts of water to a boil. Add the tamari, ginger, and kombu and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. This stock must be COLD before it is used to help the gluten contract and avoid getting a bready texture to your seitan.

5. To wash the starch out of your dough mixture, use warm water to begin with. The warm water will loosen the dough and make your task easier.

6. When the water turns milky, drain it and refil the bowl with fresh wter. In the final rinses, use cold water to tighten the gluten.

7. When kneading, remember to work toward the center of the dough so that it does not break into pieces. After about eight changes of water, you will begin to feel the dough become firmer and more elastic and the water will no longer be cloudy as you knead it.

8. To make sure you have rinsed the dough enough, lift it out of the water and squeeze it. The liquid oozing out should be clear, not milky.

9. To shape the seitan, slightly oil a 1-pound loaf pan. Place the rinsed seitan in the pan and let it rest until the dough relaxes. After it rests for about 10 minutes, it will be much more flexible.

10. Seitan is cooked in two steps. In the first step, the dough is put into a large pot with about 3 quarts of plain, boiling water. Boil the shaped seitan loaf for 30-45 minutes, or until it floats to the surface.

11. Drain and cut the seitan loaf into useable pieces (steaks, cutlets, chucks, etc.) or leave it whole.

12. Put the seitan in the cold tamari stock. Bring the stock to a boil, lower the temperature, and simmer in the stock for 1 1/2 to 2 hours (or 45 minutes if the seitan is cut into smaller chunks).

13. To store the seitan, keep it refrigerated immersed in the tamari stock. Seitan will keep indefinitely if it is brought to a boil in the tamari stock and boiled for 10 minutes twice a week. Otherwise, use it within a week.

If you’re a visual learner, here’s a step by step video (although it uses a different recipe). Good luck and happy cooking!