Seitan - which although looks like a Shaitan, is in reality very good for you :). It looks like meat but is actually made from Wheat gluten. It has a sort of chewy but at the same time firm texture. According to wikipedia "It is made by washing wheat flour dough with water until all the starch dissolves, leaving insoluble gluten as a gummy mass, which is subject to further processing."
( image src - wikipedia)
Where to look for it : It is available mostly in health food stores / natural food markets or in any well stocked large super markets. Look for it in the refrigerated/ chilled section.
Flavour- Enhancing/Cooking It does not have a standing out flavour on its own and therefore benefits largely with marinades. It can be sliced /cut into chunks, stir fried or simply added to stews in the large stage of the cooking. It is a very good meat replacement. It does not need long cooking time and gets done in matter of minutes.
Benefits: Its immensely rich in Protein - said to be almost the same as in Beef!! Also rich in essential amino acids and abundant in minerals and vitamins. As per the statistics - A four-ounce serving of seitan supplies between 6 and 10 percent of the U.S Reference Daily Intake of vitamin C, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and iron." Any more reason not to look into your local health stores?
Here is one simple dish with seitan which I have been tryng out for a while and it works with all sort of addtions. I had noted down this from the internet.
Ingredients
For the Marinade
2 tbsp Maple syrup
3 tbsp Orange juice
1 tbsp soy sauce
For the Stir Fry
1 pkt Seitan ( I used 8 oz pkt ), shredded/chopped
1/4 cup dry roasted cashews (optional - I like to add since we do need daily intake of reasonable amount of nuts in our diet)
1 red bell pepper ( more Vitamin C than orange)
1/2 cup Edamame ( For the addtional amount of Protein )
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 inch ginger, grated
salt to taste
some spring onion greens for garnish
Method
1. Prepare the marinade by combining all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and mixing well.
2.Then heat a pan and add the chopped seitan and stir fry for 4-5 min till golden brown. Then add the marinade till it covers it well and stor for another 2 min.
3.Remove from heat and then in the same pan, add chopped bell pepper, ginger, garlic, edamame and stir fry for 5-6 min in med-high heat.
4.Once little soft, add the seitan and cashews, water and cook for 2-3 min more. If watery mix some soy flour and water and stir it with the dish for it to thicken
5.Garnish with spring onion greens and serve hot. I served it with Sezhuan Fried Rice.
Approx amount of protein in this dish would be about 60-70 gms and it comes mostly from Seitan and Edamame. A 2 oz serving has about 14g of protein and a 1/2 cup Edamame has 11g. Seitan has more protein that Tofu and comes with no additional and unwanted baggage of cholestrol or saturated fat. Good for all in more ways than one. Also other nutrients/minerals are also added with the addition of Maple syrup, orange juice ,soy sauce, red bell pepper and nuts.
Thus it is an immensely protein rich food good esp for vegetarians and is my entry for my own event AWED - Chinese and to Sangeeth's Protein Rich Foods Event
AWED DEADLINE : The AWED is almost upon us and the deadline is 15th of July - so buckle up everyone and send me your creations.
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My blog has been once again acknowledged and I am all dithers. One of my best outcomes of Blogging - Siri has bestowed a beautiful and flattering award to my blog. I am just running out of words. I was never good at handling fame ;-) and appreciation.
Thanks is so used and abused - as I always say. So as I say always Siri - I am indeed blessed to have gotton both you - as my friend and your award as a feather in my cap or should I say blog's cap :)
