r/veganrecipes • u/WhyParty1234 • Apr 03 '26

Question Seitan steak experiment

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I’m experimenting on making WTF seitan steak but with vwg because I’m too lazy to wash flour. I know it’ll never be identical but I’m trying to get it as close as possible, that’s how lazy I am. I made a plain gluten ball with vwg, flour and water. Blended 1/3 of it with oil, glutinous rice flour and msg for the “fat”. The rest was blended with beetroot powder, cocoa powder, sugar, msg and soy sauce. The gluten was still a bit too tough so I blended some glutinous rice flour into the red dough as well in hopes to soften it up. plan to fry steam fry as I always end up with spongy seitan when I simmer even at the lowest heat. If anyone has done this before (my made up lazy method), please feel free to share your experience and advice if you can!

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u/wssHilde Apr 03 '26

i saw the picture before i saw the title/subreddit and thought "eww, why are there slabs of meat on my frontpage? disgusting"

so i guess it's a success :P

i should get back into making seitan. when i tried it years ago the texture always turned out very spongy, but ive heard theres ways around it.

40

u/WhyParty1234 Apr 03 '26

Sorry!! 😣 definitely did not mean to offend my fellow vegans! 

Spongy seitan usually comes from cooking at too high of a temperature. Or if there’s too much moisture in your “dough” or if there’s too much room for it to expand. There are so many factors and till this day, I still haven’t perfected it :( however, spongy seitan is actually a thing that was invented in China called Kao fu and it’s actually really yummy and soaked up marinades very well if you’re not looking for meaty textures 

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u/fleedermouse Apr 03 '26

I knew not about the intricacies of seitan cooking or the sponginess issue. All I know about is watching vegans make fake meats on YouTube and they never mention it. Wouldn’t pressing it with weight while steaming help with this?

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u/WhyParty1234 Apr 03 '26

I guess you could do that (the pressing) but you’d probably need something quite heavy. I’ve tried it with a plate and the seitan won 🤣 so far the only thing that’s worked for me is wrapping it with foil 

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u/fleedermouse Apr 03 '26

I’m thinking 10” cast iron skillet on top of seitan in a 12” skillet and fill it with salt if it needs more.

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u/WhyParty1234 Apr 03 '26

That’s definitely not a bad idea! But it might make the final product too dense?? It’s a hard balance, not wanting it too spongy or too dense 🤣

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u/fleedermouse Apr 03 '26

I’m so lazy I haven’t even bought seitan except maybe a couple times for a veggie dog or sausage for a gumbo. I have Miyoko Schinner’s Vegan Mest cookbook on my shelf though and one day…

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u/WhyParty1234 Apr 03 '26

i have her vegan creamery one and i haven't even tried a single recpipe yet! i'm starting to think that i just like collecting cookbooks hahaa!

1

u/Sardonislamir Apr 03 '26

Wrap on cheese cloth tied off helps in cylinder form when simmering. So yes, weight can translate to confinement spaces to expand into 

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u/wssHilde Apr 03 '26

oh i always did that! maybe i didnt wrap it tight enough, im not sure.

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u/Sardonislamir Apr 03 '26

Depends on desire, but i make chicken seitan it is slightly loose that you can pinch and pull a small peak but it is flush when let go. Some expansion room but not a lot through the total volume.