Make your own vegan meat

It is quite satisfying to make fake meat, meat eaters will not understand this, but they should try too, when the fridge is empty and you have little time. No hunting, killing, butchering … cheap and so versatile for many dishes. All you need is some gluten flour, and the flavouring of your choice. 

This is also called seitan and can be made in many different ways, but I find that the easier for me is to mix one cup of gluten flour with one cup of water. To the gluten flour you can add salt and pepper, herbs, seasoning… smoked salt or paprika, garlic flakes, dried sage and rosemary… anything really. Then you mix everything with your fingers and then work into a dough. Once the dough is ready shape it into a sausages and with a pair of scissor cut into very thin slices directly into a pot of boiling vegetable stock and simmer for 30 minutes (it will grow and absorb more flavour). For this dish I drained the fake meat slices and then pan fried them with a little oil to brown them, then I added soy sauce and lemon juice. In a separate pot I sautéed some green beans and then added a bit of the leftover stock and simmer them for a few minutes to absorb the liquid, then I added the fake meat and some chopped up onion weed cubs and stalks (reserve the flowers for the end). A final touch with a bit more soy sauce and lemon juice to taste, then I turned the heat off, added the flowers and served everything on top of rice. 

 Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©