In situ
Seitan innovation
April 3, 2008
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Dutch Seitan Designers at workshop
Last Sunday was the final day of Platform 21’s Cooking and Constructing exhibition, and amidst the fiery debate and seitan design workshop, no one expected that any true innovation would take place. But due to the emphasis on show and do, I had to rush through my normal procedure and the result was a surprisingly newer-better-faster, less pain-in-the-assier method for making seitan. Scratch the lengthy steaming process of my previous recipe (otherwise a great recipe) and opt for a 20 minute boil instead. This will produce a better texture and a 1 hour cooking process.
The fact that we can now make seitan in 1/4 of the time just reinforces my notion that most recipes we think of as being time-consuming, can be simplified enough to become something doable. Think of Richard Bertinet’s bread that is easy enough to just whip up whilst cooking dinner. Think of my homemade pasta 23 Layer Lasagne that is a magnificent hot mess of heaven. Recipes can be simplified, what an effing relief!
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Instead of steaming the gluten dough for hours and hours, try tossing it into some boiling water for 20 minutes. The result is a puffier texture, making the deep-frying that follows, more effective. Boil the gluten in water for ~20 minutes, or until the gluten floats to the top. (The mage above is of deepfrying.)
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Ivan burns his fingers on some deflated seitan.
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The new and improved culiblog way to make seitan. Don’t steam for 120 minutes, boil for 20, followed by a 5 minute deepfry, and proceed as usual. Seitan prepared this way takes around an hour, and you’ll only be busy with it for a fraction of this time.
Culiblog’s 25 minute 23 Layer Lasagne recipe
Richard Bertinet’s wonderful traditional French bread making technique explained in Dough.
debra at 20:53 | | post to del.icio.us
