Seitanic Book I, Chapter I: The Basic Seitanic Ritual

Here we go, delving into the Vegan black arts and Seitanism. For the first post we'll start with the building blocks of all Seitanism, SEITAN ITSELF! This is an easy recipie that you can find pretty much anywhere on the intertubez, but hey, we have to start somewhere!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of Vital Wheat Gluten (I use Bob's Redmill)

1/4 cup of Nutritional Yeast (Red Star FTW!)

2-3 Tbsp of Tamari (or soy sauce)

1-2 cups water

Broth:

10 cups of water or vegetable broth

4 Tbsp tamari

2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp basil

2 Tbsp bay seasoning

1 Tbsp marjoram

1 Tbsp Thyme

You can also add any other seasonings you would like, really just depends on the flavor you're looking for; or you can add some onions, garlic, carrots, celery or any of your favorite veggies to mix it up a little as well.

First combine your vital wheat gluten and nutritional yeast in a medium to large sized mixing bowl. You can also add whatever other spices you like, I generally use salt, pepper, bay seasoning, onion powder and garlic powder; it's up to your imagination, these black arts are not an exact science. Once all of your dry ingredients are mixed, mix in your tamari and slowly add water until the vital wheat gluten has absorbed it all. Knead the vital wheat gluten for 5-10 minutes until it is spongey. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes, and prepare your broth. Combine all of your broth ingredients in a large cauldron(or pot) but do not turn the heat on yet.

Cut your Vital wheat gluten dough into equal size chunks and roll into balls. Place them in the broth, and cover. Turn the heat on and bring to a boil, stir, reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Let the seitan simmer for at least an hour, stirring occasionally. After the hour is up remove from heat and let the seitan cool in it's broth. From here you have a few options: You can use the seitan immediately in a recipe; you can put it in an air tight container with it's broth and store it in the fridge for up to one week, or freezer for up to 6 months; or you can bake at 375º it to give it a chewier texture then store it in it's broth as mentioned in the previous step.

Recommended listening: Black Widow-Sacrifice(1970)