Raw Gluten Seitan

Ingredients:

1 batch raw gluten
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp dark sesame oil
1 onion, chopped
10 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp freshly-grated ginger
1 tsp thyme
1l water or vegetable stock
60ml tamari

Method:

Make the gluten base according to the raw gluten recipe. Set the gluten aside and prepare the stock.

Combine the oil and sesame oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pan. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and thyme and fry over low heat for about 6 minutes, or until the onion is tender. Add the water (or stock) and the tamari. Bring to a simmer, cover the pan and continue cooking as your prepare the gluten.

Place the gluten on a cold work surface and using your hands (or a rolling pin) roll out and stretch the gluten to about 1cm thick (this will take some tine and effort as the gluten is very elastic and tends to spring back to its original shape). Now reduce the heat beneath the stock so that it is barely simmering. Using a sharp knife (or kitchen scissors) cut your slab of gluten into 1cm pieces. Drop these pieces into the stock, cover and cook over low heat for about 45 minutes, or until the seitan is firm (check occasionally during the cooking time to ensure that the stock is only just simmering and not boiling).

Drain the seitan (reserve the stock). The seitan can be cooled and frozen to be used in stir-fries and vegetarian stews. The stock in which it was cooked can be thickened with arrowroot, cornflour, flour or potato starch to make a sauce which can be served with seitan or any grain-based dish.

As a variant you can also cut the seitan into slabs of steak-like pieces before cooking in the stock. Once again cook these until firm then use as cutlets to be breaded and served with a sauce made from the cooking liquid.