This homemade vegan chicken is made from Seitan and perfect for replacing chicken in all kinds of recipes. It has a great bite and is easy to make using the flour washing technique.
Create a dough ball using the flour and water. Knead it on a lightly floured surface for 2 minutes until smooth. Place the dough ball into a large mixing bowl and cover it with water. Set aside for 30 minutes.
Place the bowl into a sink and begin to knead the dough under water. This process is called 'washing the flour' (WTF = wash the flour). The wheat starches from the flour will dissolve into the surrounding water, making it white and creamy. What you are left with is wheat gluten, aka Seitan.
When the water gets super creamy, you will want to drain the water and refill with fresh water. Thoroughly 'wash' the flour under water and repeat the process until the water is only a clear white color and not creamy anymore. Then your dough ball will be washed. During the flour washing, the dough ball can get really loose and soft and fall apart. Don't worry, this is normal, just continue washing the pieces, it will all come back together in the next steps.
Rinse the dough and place it into a colander to drain any excess liquid. If you use a fine mesh colander you might want to add a small sheet of parchment paper or something similar to prevent it from sticking to the mesh.
Creating the flavor past
To create the flavor paste, combine the onion & garlic powder with the salt, pepper, nutritional yeast and oil in a small bowl. Stir until you get a paste and add a little extra oil if needed.
Transfer the Seitan into a food processor. Add the flavor paste and pulse 5-10 times or until the flavor paste is evenly mixed into the Seitan dough.
Place the Seitan back into the colander and let it rest for 2 hours or ideally overnight. During this resting time the gluten strands will come back together and create a firmer texture.
Texturing the Seitan
To create the typical chicken-style texture, pull the Seitan dough with your hands, twirl the strands and wrap the dough around itself. If you can pull the dough into a long sausage shape, you can also create little knots which will form stronger shreds later on. Continue to pull, twirl and knot until the dough is a ball full of twirls.
Wrap the Seitan ball in parchment paper, then firmly cover it in aluminum foil.
Steam the Seitan for 1 hour using a steamer basket or a steaming device, then allow for it to cool down before unwrapping it carefully.
Portioning & Serving
From here on, you can divide, cut, and shred the Seitan into your desired pieces. I find it has the best texture, when the steamed dough is briefly pan-fried in a little oil first - it gives it a little 'skin' and makes it easier to divide the vegan chicken Seitan.
Before serving, you need to pan-fry your individual vegan chicken pieces in a little oil and then add your favorite sauces. You can also add the pan-fried pieces to your favorite recipes, such as curries & pasta dishes.
Notes
This recipe is for 2 portions, but you can easily multiply the ingredients if you want to batch cook them. I would recommend cooking & steaming them in the portion-sizes though, to ensure the Seitan is cooked all the way through.
When just steaming the Seitan, it will have a very soft texture. Use a sharp knife or fork to cut it into your desired portion sizes and fry your Seitan chicken pieces before adding them to your dishes.
When texturing the Seitan dough, I like to stretch one end of the Seitan and pull it over the entire Seitan ball. it gives it a skin-like texture and makes it easier to handle.
Store the homemade chicken pieces in an airtight container and keep them in the fridge for up to 3 days. For storage up to 3 months, place the small pieces into freezer bags and keep them in the freezer until ready to use.
To reheat the Seitan pieces, simply place straight from the fridge into a hot skillet and pan-fry them in a little oil until crispy. Add sauces as you please. Alternatively, add the pieces straight to your recipes.
Using this basic recipe, you can create vegan chicken shreds, cutlets, vegan chicken breast, vegan chicken fillet and many more shapes to replace chicken in alternative recipes.
Keyword seitan, seitan chicken, vegan chicken, vegan meat, vegan protein