As many of you know, gluten is the protein of wheat flour. Many of you also know that it is often eaten as a meat substitute called seitan, other names, or my personal favorite "wheatmeat". What you may not know is that it's super easy to make. We aren't vegetarians, but we also don't eat a lot of meat just because it is expensive, etc. However, we really like wheatmeat.
I followed these instructions only I used whole wheat flour and I did let it sit and cook fully (the author says she normally doesn't wait). I had to wash out a lot of the bran, etc. because after the starch was washed out there was a surprising amount of bran. Still, I left in a lot of the bran for texture and just because.
I highly recommend using a mesh strainer over a bowl with running water as it starts to get gooey and slippery in your hands. Let the running water fill up the bowl, then dip the strainer in so it rests in the water (don't let the faucet water hit the dough directly). I twirled the strainer around and flipped the dough, or pushed up through the screen to stretch the dough, etc. YMMV. With the strainer I was able to rinse much faster and with impunity; just keep flipping the gluten ball so that it doesn't start to go through the screen.
Then I followed her instructions for cooking slicing, etc. I am planning to do this more often because I like it and it's really fun, so maybe I'll put up a page about it later.
Bon Apetit!
Wed Aug 30 11:25:15 PST i made seitan!:
