Seitan

[Tim Zen]

Wow — days of no food postings. And only one hit on seitan in BPL.

I am on a vegie kick, tofu, tempeh. Now on to seitan (also known as wheat meat).
It is protein dense. Anyone bring this on trips? Know how to make it keep?
Nice to find something other than soy-based products.

[Renais A]

I've had seitan jerky, and it was quite good. Although I've not made this myself, the recipe at http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=687274 looks easy. I like to make teriyaki marinates or brown sugar/pepper/vinegar mixes to marinate many things.
Jim

[Tim Zen]

Jim — I saw some on amazon, but would rather make it myself (MYOF) Thanks for the recipe.

[Erik Basil]

I want to know more, from the perspective of one who eats it, about this non-soy alternative to meat protein. I desperately need meat substitutes that will satisfy meat eaters, in order than we can accommodate vegetarians in our backpacking crew w/o punishing the norma…uh, meat eaters. Ha ha!

Soy is out for us, due a variety of reasons so, although I'm off to Google "seitan", I'd love to read more from backpackers!! Ah… the opposite of gluten-free, it's GLUTEN! …and it's pronounced "satan", how appropriate for a meat substitute, heh heh heh

So, which products are out there that are good? How long does it keep on trail?

[Curry]

Seitan is Wheat gluten. You can do amazing, delicous things with it. My favorite is tamari grilled seitan. I love, love, love it!

However, to bring it on an extended trip may be difficult only from a preparation point of view. uUally it is sold in powder form, like flour, that you mix and then simmer in seasoned water or vegetable broth (better) to cook it. Then once cooled, you slice it, cube it, etc and use it in your favorite recipies. Of course the powder/flour lasts a long time and you just have to deal with how long it takes to cook, ie a lot of fuel for boil and simmer time. If you buy it already cooked, then the shelf-life is probably not that long outside your refrigerator.

I would definitely recommend you try making it at home first. Like I said, I love grilling it, but you can do just about anything with it that you can dream up. Prople who are really good with it can make it to the same flavor, texture and consistency of "meat" that fools even the most die hard carnivore.

Try some prepared at your local health food store or restaurant then get a few recipe ideas to try.

Awesome veggie protein source…have fun!

[Erik Basil]

Susan, what would you do to manipulate/prepare seitan so that it could "taste like beef" when dropped into a backpacking recipe like a ChiliMac or beef and instant potatoes, etc…?

What I'm after here is the ability to either get my Scouts to where they can enjoy a meal that meets their vegetarian compadre's needs (and I mean enjoy as in "like") or counsel them on recipes where they drop in the proteins separately: ie meat for the omnivores and "alternative" protein that tastes good for the vegetarians. The need here being not only accomodation of preferences, but inclusion of proteins.

–The worst part here is that some of my guys dislike nuts (not allergy, whew!), and so I need to look harder for proteins and fats. I've had mock duck and definitely see the potential here.

[Curry]

hmmmm, to "taste like beef," ….

If you're cooking it from scratch, you can infuse the seasonings you want into the mix when you form the "dough." This is where the experts can really get it to taste, look and feel exactly like the meat produc they ar emimicking. I'm not that good at it yet, but it is still very yummy.

After it's initally cooked, or if you buy it already prepared, then you could try braising it in liquid smoke or any barbecue sauce that you like. Maybe even some shoyu (soy sauce), or again try the tamari sauce. Or heck, put some A1 sauce on it!

You could also add any dry spice rub. Unless I make my own spice mix, some of the Mrs. dash salt-free varieties like the carribean, extra spicy or lime are good. They make an orange one that could taste good by adding the citrus. If you cube it and sir fry it, you could make it taste like Chinese orange beef, especially if you add brocoli.

The thing I like about seitan is that, although it has its own distinct flavor, it is like tofu, in that it takes on the flavor of what you make it with, ie sauce, etc.

One caution is that if you make it from scratch, you don't want to over work it or over cook it, because it can become tough. Similarly, once you have initially cooked it and you're ready to use it in another preparation, you also need to be careful about overdoing it by having it on the heat too long as it will get tough as well.

Hope this helps, have fun!

[Max B]

I can't imagine making Seitan from scratch in the field – It takes ~1hr to boil and has to be kneeded first. I think that this is one where making it ahead of time would be worth it despite the weight penalty for the sheer fact that you don't want your stove tied up for that long nor would you want to run all of that fuel. . .

There is a company called field roast that makes some really good veggie sausages from gluten . . . they might be a little pricey for a scout group, but I'm sure you could find a recipe on-line. I've brought them on trips unrefrigerated, but not in blazing summer heat. It maybe possible to dehydrate them, I've never tried.

[Erik Basil]

Max, thanks for the tip on "Field Roast" products. It turns out they're sold locally, so I can try some fake meat sausage and see both how it tastes and whether we can dehydrate/rehydrate the stuff effectively. The food certainly looks good online!

[Kevin Buggie]

Erik,
In another active thread(Gourmet Food), C Nugget just recently posted a recipe that uses vegan tofurky (spicy Italian) in a tomato/rice dish after dehydrating it at home. Nice photos of it too.

the link:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=68549&skip_to_post=606424#606424

I just picked up a pack of the 'sausages' to recreate Nugget's recipe. Each weiner is 270 calories, 29g protein for about $1. Maybe too pricey for scouts, but it looks like it dries safely and rehydrates nicely. I'm an ominivore, but depending on taste this vegan protein might replace some of my staple backpacking food: dehydrated canned white-meat chicken (360 cal., 56g protein for $3, and dries in less than 8 hours at 155 degrees.) Shout out to GVP's blog for the fantastic primer on UL vegan meals!

[Erik Basil]

Those recipes look great, and we picked up some of the sausages locally. I'll try them in the kitchen and keep my eye out for more postings from those who've dehydrated them, too. They sure look to have promise.

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