Hey guys, this is Steph, a few notes~ 1. If you can find ready made seitain, you can totally buy that. We don’t usually make our own gluten, we just buy it from the market and use them accordingly. 2. How to use the readymade firm style (shui mian jin/水麵筋): they usually come in the frozen section around noodles and tofu, sometimes in vacuum sealed package. For store bought ones, you really want to do the blanch and toast method to make it taste good because some of those can really have some off taste. 3. How to use the readymade sponge style (kao fu/烤麩): a. the spongy one can come in either fresh or dry form. The fresh one should be around the same noodle/tofu frozen section, you can use it following the blanch, squeeze, and deep fry process. b. However, we usually get them in dry form and that’s how they’re usually sold, like this (world.taobao.com/item/597913810848.htm). And maybe this (www.sayweee.com/en/product/Chan-Kee-Gluten-Dough/32029), thought I’m not sure if this is dry or fresh, looks like the dry one. This dried up ones are usually around dried food section next to wood ear, snow ear, and dry tofu sheets. For this one, you’ll need to soak them in cool water for at least 4-6 hours to reconstitute, then follow the blanch, squeeze, and deep frying process to prep them. 4. Another tip on where to find seitan/gluten if nothing is labeled “seitan”. Well, look for stuff like vegan chicken/beef/pork, etc., like this (www.sayweee.com/en/product/Natures-Soy-Vegan-Chicken/19250). Many of this kind of vegan meat is the firm style seitan/gluten, you can use it following the prep of blanching + toasting, then use it in dishes as you like. 5. Even when what you’re going for is whipping up a vegan meat dish using the package vegan chicken directly, I strongly suggest you give the blanch and toast method a go. That prep was a game changer for me when it comes to the firm seitan, it just makes it taste so much better. Don’t just throw a slap of firm seitan on a pan like you would with an actual pork chop or steak, that’s just wasting food. 6. Canned seitan are usually sold already cooked and seasoned (www.sayweee.com/en/product/Kimlan-Wheat-Gluten/48554). You can heat it up and eat it straight. Those are usually quite similar to the Shanghai style Sixi Kaofu, aka a sauce heavy braise. 7. Seitan/gluten balls (www.sayweee.com/en/product/Sinbo-Brand-Big-Gluten-Ball/33322). Original we also want to cover this style of deep fried seitan ball in the video but decided against it since the video is already long enough. Anyway, these balls are made by deep frying uncooked gluten and are great in soups as we showed in the Wuxi style hot and sour soup (ruclips.net/video/Pts0cLqGfkQ/видео.html), and an awesome addition to hot pot. People also love to stuff it with meat and turn it into a saucy braise like this (ruclips.net/video/dS-DtKTM4_k/видео.html). 8. A quick note about using wheat gluten flour to make seitan directly: for best result, you can mix in about 15-20% AP flour. In China, when factories make gluten using gluten flour, they usually add some AP to improve the final texture. Just combine and knead till everything's smooth, then let it rest and move onto shaping. So gluten is super versatile and delicious, it shouldn’t just be thought of as a “meat substitute”, it’s its own amazing ingredient. Have fun playing with it!
for US viewers, there is also a product called vital wheat gluten (usually sold by bob's red mill in grocery stores) which you can just hydrate, salt, and knead into the texture you prefer it's not exactly the same as making it from scratch, but it is a LOT faster and more readily available outside of asia and doesn't need to be ordered
@@lexorchid A quick note about using wheat gluten flour, for best result, you can mix in about 15-20% AP flour. In China, when factories make gluten using gluten flour, they usually add some AP to improve the final texture.
@@ChineseCookingDemystified interesting! So you mean if we use packaged vital wheat gluten to make seitan, we should use 80% VWG and 20% AP flour for best texture? That might explain why all my seitan attempts have failed so far! I always get something tough and rubbery in texture. Maybe because I used 100% VWG?
@@ChineseCookingDemystified very intersting... theres this place on the other side of PA that makes their own seitan for "cheese steaks" called spak brothers and omg when i was a vegan i just drooled over it, still do in in fact lol. been wanting to make a small trip to the city but since i dont work close to them/for a company that partners i haven't been there in a while...
CCD builds bridges, USA & China united in this couple, consistent good content, recorded & edited with love & dedication. Away from politics, making Western followers aware that Chinese culture is so much more than what the daily news tells us. Lots of vegan recipes / food in the West seem just a silly hype when you realise thanks to CCD that these "vegan mock meats" or "dairy-free food" have always been around, just in another part of the world. I already was a devoted CCD follower before I went plant-based a few years ago, now I appreciate even more the recipes that are absolutely delicious and "no animal was hurt".
Great video! For anyone wondering what the starch can be used for, it's excellent at "softening" flour for cakes and pastries. Because it's pure starch, mixing it with flour effectively lowers the protein content of the flour, which makes baked goods more tender. You can also use the wheat starch in place of corn starch. They have almost identical thickening properties, but the wheat starch will reheat significantly better. Ever reheated Chinese takeout only for the sauce to turn into a runny soup? That won't happen when the sauce is made with wheat starch!
How do you access the starch? Evaporate the liquid on low heat? I'm having trouble imagining how that pool of cloudy water could ever be used in a pastry recipe for instance. TIA!
@@senormoll as the video said, you should allow the starch water to settle in a wide, flat vessel, then decant the yellowish liquid on top and set the vessel outside in a sunny spot until dry. You can't really accelerate this process, unfortunately, as temps as low as 55c (131f) can cause the starch to begin to gelatinize.
Other alternative to corn starch is potato starch. If you can't get it in a store nearby, just grate or, even better, blend potatoes with water, pass the liquid through a sieve with any kind of food safe cloth and squeeze it. Allow the starch to settle for a few hours, decant the water on top and wash a few times or until the water on top of the starch doesn't turn brown anymore. Allow it to dry and you have potato starch. Seems a lot of work, but it actually isn't. Sauces reheat better and aren't as opaque as compared to those thickened with cornstarch.
Chinese cooking is so wild. Teaches me something new about an ingredient I've been using for over a decade while using a technique that is a thousand years old.
I feel so silly for disregarding ingredients like tofu and seitan for years, not even pausing to think that they've been around for centuries and perfected in recipes across generations. These methods look absolutely delicious!
It's not your fault, they're pushed in Western culture as a "meat alternative", so almost every meat eater dismisses it immediately. And when the vegetarians/vegans/open-minded meat-eaters give it a try, it's inevitably as a substitute in meat dishes. For cultures like Chinese, they've had this protein source available for so long that it predates ingredients like chili peppers and peanuts. So the classic Chinese recipes for setain have been developed over the ages, incorporating new ingredients as they became available, to play to seitan's strengths as an ingredient in its own right, rather than as a crappy substitute for something else. Somewhat off topic, but seeing tofu and seitan in US supermarkets always reminds me of this old bit by Mitch Hedburg: ruclips.net/video/dA8CZyLrsrI/видео.html
I'd try more seitan if I found it more often but personally I don't like the taste of tofu, but if I'm served it at a restaurant I'll eat it, fried tofu is good but normal tofu just doesn't gel with me
As a non meat eater who been trying wash- the-flour for a while, it's nice to get a real lesson of the actual traditional methods for seitan from real Chinese chefs. Will try both these recipes exactly.
You should try using straight VWG with broth and soy sauce, that’s how we normally make ours. But I will definitely be trying this method for the sixi kaofu, it looks so good!
There's another channel called The Pot Thickens, where they have made videos showing step by step processes of making seitan into chicken-like texture or making fake bacon with flour.
My partner who has celiac disease would call this Satan lol. If I'm being honest, it's almost impossible for us to eat at chinese restaurants. One good thing that came about is that I've learned to create most, if not all, of our favorite chinese dishes at home with slight modifications. This channel has been extremely helpful in that journey.
Wait sorry why? Are you saying from a contamination standpoint because celiac is that serious? Because I would’ve thought Chinese restaurants have tons of flour less dishes, and the sauces use starch, lots of rice
@ I didn’t say it was not serious I was confused about Chinese restaurants being incompatible with celiac in particular in the whole scheme of restaurant types. But the other guy saying soy sauce has a hint of wheat technically is a good point
Ever since I first had wheat gluten at the Lotus Garden in San Francisco when I was 19, I have been searching for traditional Chinese ways of making gluten. I looked through all sorts of cookbooks but never found much (except for American vegetarian cookbooks). I am so happy you made this video and that I can add this after looking for so long to my repertoire of gluten making methods!! Thank you!
I gotta say, you guys are amazing! Through watching your videos along side a select few other (such as made with lau) i've gained so much more confidence in my chinese home cooking! My partner's family is from the guandong province which is why i wanted to learn to cook this way in the first place and it's become a great way i can connect with my partner and their family especially as someone who is not from that culture, thank you so much!
Thank you for the numerous seitan videos over the past weeks! I don't know if I was the only one who had requested for these, but now I have a handful of recipes and techniques. Very helpful. Great job!
Absolutely loved this!!!! More Chinese Vegetarian Food please!!!! We have such a rich history of INSANELY DELICIOUS vegetarian food that we really should be showcasing!
I absolutly love this video. If you ever feel like it, know that there are vegetarian fans of your channel and we would love to see more chinese-vegetarian couisine or even vege versions of the meat dishes you show. I often struggle with using asian techniques with seitan or meat replacements so it would be great if you could show us more ways of how to do it properly.
Shanghainese here. For sixi kaofu, one of the four ingrediants is not lily bulbs but dried daylily flowers. The version I like also adds fresh winter bamboo shoots.
Wow! I have been looking for a recipe for spongy seitan. One of my friends is doing a post-doc in Shanghai and he had written me about a dish he had eaten with spongy seitan but he had no idea how it was made. Now I know: yeast and a little sugar added to my regular seitan. Thank you. And for the record, I routinely pan fry my seitan (balls about the same size as you would make falafel) - takes about 5 minutes to cook both sides to perfection. No boiling.
I've known a few self diagnosed gluten intolerant people who eat seitan, I told one of them what they were eating and perhaps that they're not gluten intolerant after all, we aren't friends anymore jaja
Have noticed this phenomenon… my hunch is people are intolerant to something else in wheat. I think it’s easier for them to say they’re gluten free- most people know if gluten is in something, not necessarily wheat or another grain containing gluten. In this case, I assume whatever that thing is would get rinsed away. Who knows? Funny anecdote nonetheless 😄
@@OnlySlightyRadioactive not saying this person was lying or not, but sometimes, gluten intolerant people take the risk. There are memes of lactose intolerant people having something with milk in it because "You gotta live life, and it's only - insert consequences here-" But we get to decide when to pay the consequences not someone else😊😅
Thank you very much for sharing two methods of making seitan. I am a vegan and it is always fun to learn from the source. Thank you for sharing that 11th century quote. It is fascinating to know that Chinese are using seitan for more than a 1000 years, and also in a variety of ways. Please continue this series on vegetarian and vegan Chinese food. Thank you. 🙏
Always appreciate the amount of research you guys put in. I cook Indian food much more than Chinese food but I still watch every video bc I learn something new everytime. Y’all are awesome 👏🏽
I don't know why I haven't ever thought to just use a plastic bag for covering a bowl of dough when I didn't have a suitable clean towel and/or didn't want to waste cling wrap, but that's a great tip.
Yet again, you are true friends to vegans all over the world! Thank you especially for the historical context, because where I live, the most common "argument" against gluten based dishes is that it is "new" and "noone knows what it does to the body" (well, apart from the wooey bs à la "it glues your intestines together, that's why it is called gluten")
I am SO EXCITED about this. I've been trying to eat seitan for a couple years now. I hate the texture so much but it's an amazing nutritional powerhouse for lifting weights. SO HYPE TO LEARN MORE
@@tadhu8570 Sadly it's even less protein dense than soybeans themselves. It's actually extremely expensive per gram of protein, due to the water content.
@@MyCommentsRMaturelol Making tofu is not only to extract vegetable protein, but also to make it easy to digest. Although the density of protein is reduced, the total content is not reduced, and makes it easier to digest. If people only pursues food density, people should not eat steak, they could directly take the highest density of protein (protein powder), and do not mix with water.
5:00 i dont understand this blanching step. you just boiled the seitan. why does it need to be taken out then put back into boiling water to blanch it?
All your videos are amazing but this one was virtuosic! 11th century source material (fuck yeah!), multiple applications, just awesome. You guys seemed to have fun with this one :)
Thanks for this. I've been trying to make my own seitan for a while and had some success but all the "how to" vids I've seen have been made by people who obviously also learned from videos and are confusing at best and downright misleading at worst. You have yourself a subscriber!
YES! Yes yes yes! I’ve literally been begging you guys to make this video for years lol. Once you finish the series on the traditional mock meats i will finally rest in peace.
I'm learning (trying) to make Asian dishes. Authentically. But I dont have an Asian grandma to tell me if my recipes are trash.😂 So when I cook stuff, I have no way to gauge its success. This channel is EXACTLY what I needed!!! Thank you❤ ...Also, I wish people would mention if each recipe was considered "every day" food or "holiday" food. My dumbass would make mooncakes onna weekday until sumbody informed me better. 🤣
I've made two attempts before at making homemade washed flour seitan. Interestingly, the first attempt turned out way better than the second! But both of these examples in your video sound very tasty and very interesting, and add steps to make the seitan come out very differently from each other, as well as very differently from my results! I fully intend to try both as soon as possible, and then continue to explore other ways to turn gluten into magic! Thanks so much for this video - excellent as always! One of my favorite channels on RUclips! [Edit: also, hooray Shure SM7B microphone in the video! I JUST upgraded to one of these myself from a much cheaper, not quite as good, but still quite excellent (especially for the money) RØDE Podmic! I'll reply-to-self with the details and links to that episode as well as links to a recent earlier episode which still used the Podmic for a little "compare and contrast".]
Okay. The promised reply-to-self with the deets and links to my episode which debuted the same Shure SM7B microphone which they are using in this video: First, the deets: I do a pair of video game music podcasts under the broader umbrella of "Nerd Noise Radio": the older of the two shows, active since 2017, "Channel 1" (subtitled "Noise from the Hearts of Nerds" and using episode numbering scheme "C1EX") is what I'll call a "mixtape plus" format - an uninterrupted musical journey through the winding, twisting waves of VGM, bookended by vaguely NPR-esque radio music program intros and outros. The newer program (active since 2020) is "Channel 2" (subtitled "Nerd Noise Game Club" and using episode numbering scheme "C2EX") and is more conversational. My co-host out of Chicago (named Hugues [pronounced "Hugh"] Johnson) and I taking turns sharing tracks and discussing them together. Before the launch of either of these, NNR was a social media thing that just shared VGM and talked about them, and on that front, we just celebrated a decade in existence. In fact, this episode (a "Channel 1") not only debuts the SM7B, but also celebrates the occasion of our having been around for a decade by releasing on the exact anniversary, and focusing on the music we shared on social media prior to the launch of the pod which had never been featured in the show before. Hence, you'll have to forgive the horribly, blatantly amateurish super low-res logo on this episode - given the occasion, I had opted to use our original "throwback" logo for this episode (a logo which hasn't been used since Dec 2017!) Link for Spotify users: open.spotify.com/episode/4oNyoSM0xD8DDRabYNlyyq?si=W3TnPaZhSaenkc0ywmQsIw& Link for non-Spotify users: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/noise-from-the-hearts-of-nerds-c1e71-the-wonder-years/id1191401173?i=1000596674635 And for cross reference, another Ch 1 from Nov 2022. This one uses the cheaper RØDE Podmic in the intro and outro instead, so I don't think it sounds quite as good. On the other hand, it at least uses our current logo, which is at least marginally less amateurish (as well as higher res, more complex, and nowhere near as blatant of an NPR logo ripoff!) 😂 Link for Spotify users: open.spotify.com/episode/6SyXVoXnabUllRK0BeDGbJ?si=kHFI_92HRmq_ms4guYtxdQ& Link for non-Spotify users: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/channel-1-noise-from-the-hearts-of-nerds-c1e69/id1191401173?i=1000585408779
I am so happy I saw this, I actually grew up eating Seitan (even though I'm a white boy in america). I always got it in my favourite soba from this little vegetarian restaurant in bethany. I totally forgot the name, (if I ever new it) but I loved Seitan so much more than any meat or meat replacements in my food, and I was so upset that I didn't know what it was called. Im really excited to start making some and having it instead of some other meat "substitutes" (i could talk more about the meat substitute thing but basically, i dont want my hearty chewy ingredients to even be like meat, i just want a not meat one, like seitan!)
This is perfect! I've been missing the Liang Pi I used to get in NYC and even if I'm able to get the flavor and noodle texture right, none of our local seitan is giving me the soft spongy texture I've wanted. It's time I finally just learn how to make it myself.
Thumbs up for a very good vid indeed. I will make this some time ... but _takes so long_ to make!!! I bet they home prepared tastes so much better than store bought.
Wonderful video as always, Steph! Ive been looking for alternative protein sources since im not a huge fan of most meat. Soy doesn't agree with me, and fish isn't cheap (but id eat it every day if i could!) Ive tried making Seitan before, but wasn't super happy with the results. Ill have to try again now!
Oh I am going to totally try this tomorrow for lunch! I love seitain- but have only ever steamed it or fried it- I've never boiled it. Totally trying the wrapping around sticks, boiling, shredding, toasting method. Everything you make always looks delicious!
I gotta try making this looks delicious. Thanks guys, you videos are always amazing and very helpfull and full of knowledge nuggets for my hungry brain
Great video! Great format and easy explanations. Please share how the people make this I. Hugs batches but preserve this for months, in its sun dried state- saw this on a cultural video
I haven't made this in ages, but what a coincidence that you both would post this video as I'd been planning to make it again for a bit now. Thanks for the reminders on the process as well as some tips I didn't know before!
I first saw this on the Magic Ingredients channel, where she also made noodles with the starch from washing. It kind of blew my mind. I still kind of can't believe that the dough doesn't just dissolve when you wash it. I KNOW it doesn't, obviously, but every time I see it it's like my brain goes "...nope, inaccurate, nuh-uh" 😂 Definitely going to try this someday.
I used to make seitan from vital wheat gluten flour. I even had a web page where I put my recipes. I even had a recipe for "fakon". But that was many years ago, and since then I had to stop eating gluten after I found I was sensitive.
Hey Steph, this is a guy. I’ve seen people rest the dough in water and I’ve seen it with. Obviously it’s not necessary. Why do some people insist on it? Thanks!
Very interesting video Steph. Had absolutely no idea how 麵筋 is made. All my experience is ordering from a restaurant or opening a jar of it. showing us how to make it. Reminds me of how much I like to eat 烤麩 at Shanghainese restaurants which I have not eaten in years. I will be going to get some 烤麩 takeout very soon. Thank you for the great video.
I literally got takeout last night and wondered what those delicious little strips were. Didn't even occur to me that they were seitan! I ordered seitan intentionally exactly once from a vegan place and it had that off sour taste you describe, so I assumed I just didn't like the stuff. Thanks for setting me straight :)
I saw Emmymade and a couple of other RUclipsrs, sorry I forgot who, make this into vegetarian "chicken breast" patties. It looked amazingly similar when it was cooked. I thought it was a novel idea at the time, thinking it was something someone recently figured out. Should have known it was an ancient Chinese secret. Great video, I just recently found you guys and think you have some great content.
i've been wanting to try a seitan version of meat-based recipes from this channel. when it comes to blanching and toasting, would it make sense to just blanch and then apply a marinade, e.g. like a soy/sugar/salt/liaojiu one like you'd see in a pork stir fry recipe? or should i blanch and toast and then try to get a coating on the seitan with a sauce during the stir fry process 🤔
nice video, I am not a vegetarian but I do think it would be good reduce our meat consumption for many reasons, so I would like to try cooking with seitan someday. Also is your microphone a SM7B? I think recognize it haha
Try searching for it in Chinese but here a recipe I've badly google translated. (The measurement was equal to 2.8 ts so I rounded up) Gluten 4 (seitan globs? Idk measure with your heart) Chili powder 6 teaspoons Sesame 6 teaspoons Cumin powder 12 teaspoons Cumin seeds 3 teaspoons Salt 6 teaspoons soy sauce 3 teaspoons Stab gluten on bamboo stick, boil it, cut in a spiral (like a slinky), put the spice on, 200c(400f ish) in an oven for 12 min, baste with chili and sesame oil, back in the oven for 4. Idk if this is a good recipe coz I haven't made it yet and have never tasted it but I plan to!! Hope this is helpful!!!♡
Such amazing and thorough video, have you made or started making a cookbook yet? If so post a link to where I can buy it. Side note, no Shaoxing wine in the seitan dishes?!?
QUESTION: For the spongy gluten, are the measurement for sugar and yeast based on the full 500g flour, or only half? I am looking forward to trying this out soon.
The true is even in a romam empire they use glútem to be strongs warriors😊 glútem is very good as a Soure of protein. You only avoid it if you have celiac disease or some kind of intolerance! Tnks for the vídeo 🙏🏻
What is he salt / msg box you have? looks pretty cool! I've searched on google but don't seem to be able to find the one that has the spoon holder in the middle. thanks in advanced! :)
The photo of Steph's wet hand holding the ball of gluten looks almost like brains or something equally internal and gruesome to me as a vegetarian! 😂 The tip about adding in some regular flour with viral wheat gluten is really useful. My favourite seitan has been from the London vegan mini-chain Temple of Seitan, they do the best vegan fried not-chicken. Being in the north of England I have to settle for Doner Summer instead who also do similar vegan fried not-chicken, and also vegan kebabs, though I prefer the texture of Temple of Seitan.
Hey guys, this is Steph, a few notes~
1. If you can find ready made seitain, you can totally buy that. We don’t usually make our own gluten, we just buy it from the market and use them accordingly.
2. How to use the readymade firm style (shui mian jin/水麵筋): they usually come in the frozen section around noodles and tofu, sometimes in vacuum sealed package. For store bought ones, you really want to do the blanch and toast method to make it taste good because some of those can really have some off taste.
3. How to use the readymade sponge style (kao fu/烤麩):
a. the spongy one can come in either fresh or dry form. The fresh one should be around the same noodle/tofu frozen section, you can use it following the blanch, squeeze, and deep fry process.
b. However, we usually get them in dry form and that’s how they’re usually sold, like this (world.taobao.com/item/597913810848.htm). And maybe this (www.sayweee.com/en/product/Chan-Kee-Gluten-Dough/32029), thought I’m not sure if this is dry or fresh, looks like the dry one. This dried up ones are usually around dried food section next to wood ear, snow ear, and dry tofu sheets. For this one, you’ll need to soak them in cool water for at least 4-6 hours to reconstitute, then follow the blanch, squeeze, and deep frying process to prep them.
4. Another tip on where to find seitan/gluten if nothing is labeled “seitan”. Well, look for stuff like vegan chicken/beef/pork, etc., like this (www.sayweee.com/en/product/Natures-Soy-Vegan-Chicken/19250). Many of this kind of vegan meat is the firm style seitan/gluten, you can use it following the prep of blanching + toasting, then use it in dishes as you like.
5. Even when what you’re going for is whipping up a vegan meat dish using the package vegan chicken directly, I strongly suggest you give the blanch and toast method a go. That prep was a game changer for me when it comes to the firm seitan, it just makes it taste so much better. Don’t just throw a slap of firm seitan on a pan like you would with an actual pork chop or steak, that’s just wasting food.
6. Canned seitan are usually sold already cooked and seasoned (www.sayweee.com/en/product/Kimlan-Wheat-Gluten/48554). You can heat it up and eat it straight. Those are usually quite similar to the Shanghai style Sixi Kaofu, aka a sauce heavy braise.
7. Seitan/gluten balls (www.sayweee.com/en/product/Sinbo-Brand-Big-Gluten-Ball/33322). Original we also want to cover this style of deep fried seitan ball in the video but decided against it since the video is already long enough. Anyway, these balls are made by deep frying uncooked gluten and are great in soups as we showed in the Wuxi style hot and sour soup (ruclips.net/video/Pts0cLqGfkQ/видео.html), and an awesome addition to hot pot. People also love to stuff it with meat and turn it into a saucy braise like this (ruclips.net/video/dS-DtKTM4_k/видео.html).
8. A quick note about using wheat gluten flour to make seitan directly: for best result, you can mix in about 15-20% AP flour. In China, when factories make gluten using gluten flour, they usually add some AP to improve the final texture. Just combine and knead till everything's smooth, then let it rest and move onto shaping.
So gluten is super versatile and delicious, it shouldn’t just be thought of as a “meat substitute”, it’s its own amazing ingredient. Have fun playing with it!
for US viewers, there is also a product called vital wheat gluten (usually sold by bob's red mill in grocery stores) which you can just hydrate, salt, and knead into the texture you prefer
it's not exactly the same as making it from scratch, but it is a LOT faster and more readily available outside of asia and doesn't need to be ordered
Hello, what is the nutty ingredients on 10:17?
@@lexorchid A quick note about using wheat gluten flour, for best result, you can mix in about 15-20% AP flour. In China, when factories make gluten using gluten flour, they usually add some AP to improve the final texture.
@@ChineseCookingDemystified interesting! So you mean if we use packaged vital wheat gluten to make seitan, we should use 80% VWG and 20% AP flour for best texture?
That might explain why all my seitan attempts have failed so far! I always get something tough and rubbery in texture. Maybe because I used 100% VWG?
@@ChineseCookingDemystified very intersting... theres this place on the other side of PA that makes their own seitan for "cheese steaks" called spak brothers and omg when i was a vegan i just drooled over it, still do in in fact lol. been wanting to make a small trip to the city but since i dont work close to them/for a company that partners i haven't been there in a while...
Citing 11th century steelmaking documents in a cooking video is a level that only CCD can ever reach
Lots of historical cooking channels actually
Demystify!
@Richard Shuang Feng Guo why would Koreans even claim seitan? They aren't even a wheat culture.
CCD builds bridges, USA & China united in this couple, consistent good content, recorded & edited with love & dedication. Away from politics, making Western followers aware that Chinese culture is so much more than what the daily news tells us.
Lots of vegan recipes / food in the West seem just a silly hype when you realise thanks to CCD that these "vegan mock meats" or "dairy-free food" have always been around, just in another part of the world. I already was a devoted CCD follower before I went plant-based a few years ago, now I appreciate even more the recipes that are absolutely delicious and "no animal was hurt".
“First, get the iron piping hot.”
Great video! For anyone wondering what the starch can be used for, it's excellent at "softening" flour for cakes and pastries. Because it's pure starch, mixing it with flour effectively lowers the protein content of the flour, which makes baked goods more tender. You can also use the wheat starch in place of corn starch. They have almost identical thickening properties, but the wheat starch will reheat significantly better. Ever reheated Chinese takeout only for the sauce to turn into a runny soup? That won't happen when the sauce is made with wheat starch!
amazing tip!! thanks for sharing!
How do you access the starch? Evaporate the liquid on low heat? I'm having trouble imagining how that pool of cloudy water could ever be used in a pastry recipe for instance. TIA!
@@senormoll as the video said, you should allow the starch water to settle in a wide, flat vessel, then decant the yellowish liquid on top and set the vessel outside in a sunny spot until dry. You can't really accelerate this process, unfortunately, as temps as low as 55c (131f) can cause the starch to begin to gelatinize.
@@ppodders oof thank you I just realized I stopped the video before the end lol
Other alternative to corn starch is potato starch. If you can't get it in a store nearby, just grate or, even better, blend potatoes with water, pass the liquid through a sieve with any kind of food safe cloth and squeeze it. Allow the starch to settle for a few hours, decant the water on top and wash a few times or until the water on top of the starch doesn't turn brown anymore. Allow it to dry and you have potato starch. Seems a lot of work, but it actually isn't. Sauces reheat better and aren't as opaque as compared to those thickened with cornstarch.
Thank you for spreading the seitan gospel
Hello my favorite bean influencer
You've heard of gluten-less flour.. But are you ready for.. Flour-less Gluten? Jokes aside, love this video!
Gluten-free-free.
Chinese cooking is so wild. Teaches me something new about an ingredient I've been using for over a decade while using a technique that is a thousand years old.
I feel so silly for disregarding ingredients like tofu and seitan for years, not even pausing to think that they've been around for centuries and perfected in recipes across generations. These methods look absolutely delicious!
It's not your fault, they're pushed in Western culture as a "meat alternative", so almost every meat eater dismisses it immediately. And when the vegetarians/vegans/open-minded meat-eaters give it a try, it's inevitably as a substitute in meat dishes. For cultures like Chinese, they've had this protein source available for so long that it predates ingredients like chili peppers and peanuts. So the classic Chinese recipes for setain have been developed over the ages, incorporating new ingredients as they became available, to play to seitan's strengths as an ingredient in its own right, rather than as a crappy substitute for something else.
Somewhat off topic, but seeing tofu and seitan in US supermarkets always reminds me of this old bit by Mitch Hedburg: ruclips.net/video/dA8CZyLrsrI/видео.html
I'd try more seitan if I found it more often but personally I don't like the taste of tofu, but if I'm served it at a restaurant I'll eat it, fried tofu is good but normal tofu just doesn't gel with me
I love mixing tofu and chicken together to make glass dumplings. Tofu is so versatile.
@@Blackreaper95 you need to season it
@@creativeb549 had it myself seasoned, and seasoned in restaurants, still not a fan of the taste but everyone is different.
As a non meat eater who been trying wash- the-flour for a while, it's nice to get a real lesson of the actual traditional methods for seitan from real Chinese chefs.
Will try both these recipes exactly.
You should try using straight VWG with broth and soy sauce, that’s how we normally make ours. But I will definitely be trying this method for the sixi kaofu, it looks so good!
There's another channel called The Pot Thickens, where they have made videos showing step by step processes of making seitan into chicken-like texture or making fake bacon with flour.
This channel is so underrated. I am constantly blown away by how both academic, practical, and easy it is to consume. Thank you!
My partner who has celiac disease would call this Satan lol. If I'm being honest, it's almost impossible for us to eat at chinese restaurants. One good thing that came about is that I've learned to create most, if not all, of our favorite chinese dishes at home with slight modifications. This channel has been extremely helpful in that journey.
Wait sorry why? Are you saying from a contamination standpoint because celiac is that serious? Because I would’ve thought Chinese restaurants have tons of flour less dishes, and the sauces use starch, lots of rice
@@monhi64 soy sauce has wheat.
@@monhi64what makes you think celiac is ever not serious ? I totally do not get your comment
@ I didn’t say it was not serious I was confused about Chinese restaurants being incompatible with celiac in particular in the whole scheme of restaurant types. But the other guy saying soy sauce has a hint of wheat technically is a good point
Ever since I first had wheat gluten at the Lotus Garden in San Francisco when I was 19, I have been searching for traditional Chinese ways of making gluten. I looked through all sorts of cookbooks but never found much (except for American vegetarian cookbooks). I am so happy you made this video and that I can add this after looking for so long to my repertoire of gluten making methods!! Thank you!
You guys and Mandy from Souped Up Recipes are the stars of Chinese cooking youtube. Just want to express my love!
One of the best-explained videos I have seen on seitan. Thank you
So much resting and relaxing. This gluten is a Princess.
I gotta say, you guys are amazing! Through watching your videos along side a select few other (such as made with lau) i've gained so much more confidence in my chinese home cooking! My partner's family is from the guandong province which is why i wanted to learn to cook this way in the first place and it's become a great way i can connect with my partner and their family especially as someone who is not from that culture, thank you so much!
Thank you for the numerous seitan videos over the past weeks! I don't know if I was the only one who had requested for these, but now I have a handful of recipes and techniques. Very helpful. Great job!
Absolutely loved this!!!! More Chinese Vegetarian Food please!!!! We have such a rich history of INSANELY DELICIOUS vegetarian food that we really should be showcasing!
I absolutly love this video.
If you ever feel like it, know that there are vegetarian fans of your channel and we would love to see more chinese-vegetarian couisine or even vege versions of the meat dishes you show.
I often struggle with using asian techniques with seitan or meat replacements so it would be great if you could show us more ways of how to do it properly.
totally agree, loving the vegetarian friendly videos
You should check out Hannah Che, she has a few books on it. The Vegan Chinese Kitchen actually won a James Beard award iirc.
Edit for typo
Shanghainese here. For sixi kaofu, one of the four ingrediants is not lily bulbs but dried daylily flowers. The version I like also adds fresh winter bamboo shoots.
Yes, should be dry day lily, apparently I mispoked through the whole video.
if i never say ths or get a chance again: Thank you so much for all you do, you've really helped me with all of your recipes and descriptions
i "discovered" mock duck years ago and since then, I'm a gluten/seitan convert. It's a fantastic texture.
Wow! I have been looking for a recipe for spongy seitan. One of my friends is doing a post-doc in Shanghai and he had written me about a dish he had eaten with spongy seitan but he had no idea how it was made. Now I know: yeast and a little sugar added to my regular seitan. Thank you. And for the record, I routinely pan fry my seitan (balls about the same size as you would make falafel) - takes about 5 minutes to cook both sides to perfection. No boiling.
Is this dish gluten-free? No, it's gluten-only🤣
I've known a few self diagnosed gluten intolerant people who eat seitan, I told one of them what they were eating and perhaps that they're not gluten intolerant after all, we aren't friends anymore jaja
🤣
@@OnlySlightyRadioactive hah, I know a gluten free person who eats seitan as well. I always thought it was some kind of tofu derivative
Have noticed this phenomenon… my hunch is people are intolerant to something else in wheat. I think it’s easier for them to say they’re gluten free- most people know if gluten is in something, not necessarily wheat or another grain containing gluten.
In this case, I assume whatever that thing is would get rinsed away. Who knows?
Funny anecdote nonetheless 😄
@@OnlySlightyRadioactive not saying this person was lying or not, but sometimes, gluten intolerant people take the risk. There are memes of lactose intolerant people having something with milk in it because "You gotta live life, and it's only - insert consequences here-" But we get to decide when to pay the consequences not someone else😊😅
Thank you very much for sharing two methods of making seitan. I am a vegan and it is always fun to learn from the source. Thank you for sharing that 11th century quote. It is fascinating to know that Chinese are using seitan for more than a 1000 years, and also in a variety of ways. Please continue this series on vegetarian and vegan Chinese food. Thank you. 🙏
Always appreciate the amount of research you guys put in. I cook Indian food much more than Chinese food but I still watch every video bc I learn something new everytime. Y’all are awesome 👏🏽
I don't know why I haven't ever thought to just use a plastic bag for covering a bowl of dough when I didn't have a suitable clean towel and/or didn't want to waste cling wrap, but that's a great tip.
Your comically large spider strainer made me giggle. Thanks for making these videos!
Happy New Years!! Hope we have the great things in this water rabbit year!
Killin’ it, Steph!
the cakes look so beautifulYou’re one of the best food RUclipsrs, keep up the good work
Yet again, you are true friends to vegans all over the world! Thank you especially for the historical context, because where I live, the most common "argument" against gluten based dishes is that it is "new" and "noone knows what it does to the body" (well, apart from the wooey bs à la "it glues your intestines together, that's why it is called gluten")
thank you so much for all these videos, they've expanded my cooking options and absolutely easy to follow.
I am SO EXCITED about this. I've been trying to eat seitan for a couple years now. I hate the texture so much but it's an amazing nutritional powerhouse for lifting weights. SO HYPE TO LEARN MORE
Tofu is basically vegetable protein extracted from soybeans. The same as seitan extracted from wheat.
@@tadhu8570 Sadly it's even less protein dense than soybeans themselves. It's actually extremely expensive per gram of protein, due to the water content.
@@MyCommentsRMaturelol Making tofu is not only to extract vegetable protein, but also to make it easy to digest. Although the density of protein is reduced, the total content is not reduced, and makes it easier to digest. If people only pursues food density, people should not eat steak, they could directly take the highest density of protein (protein powder), and do not mix with water.
@@tadhu8570he said it’s expensive man, I’m sure he’d eat it if it was less expensive. It’s not like bodybuilders don’t need tons of water
5:00 i dont understand this blanching step. you just boiled the seitan. why does it need to be taken out then put back into boiling water to blanch it?
All your videos are amazing but this one was virtuosic! 11th century source material (fuck yeah!), multiple applications, just awesome. You guys seemed to have fun with this one :)
I clicked this video so fast, after all it’s endorsed by seitan.
Seeing this made was so interesting.
Thanks for this. I've been trying to make my own seitan for a while and had some success but all the "how to" vids I've seen have been made by people who obviously also learned from videos and are confusing at best and downright misleading at worst. You have yourself a subscriber!
Welp. I have Celiac disease. Probably the most "not for me" recipe on this whole channel lmao
Sooo cool!
I was just talking to my dad about making gluten, but neither of us really knew how!
YES! Yes yes yes! I’ve literally been begging you guys to make this video for years lol. Once you finish the series on the traditional mock meats i will finally rest in peace.
I'm learning (trying) to make Asian dishes. Authentically. But I dont have an Asian grandma to tell me if my recipes are trash.😂 So when I cook stuff, I have no way to gauge its success. This channel is EXACTLY what I needed!!! Thank you❤ ...Also, I wish people would mention if each recipe was considered "every day" food or "holiday" food. My dumbass would make mooncakes onna weekday until sumbody informed me better. 🤣
Loved the historical background section
I've made two attempts before at making homemade washed flour seitan. Interestingly, the first attempt turned out way better than the second! But both of these examples in your video sound very tasty and very interesting, and add steps to make the seitan come out very differently from each other, as well as very differently from my results! I fully intend to try both as soon as possible, and then continue to explore other ways to turn gluten into magic! Thanks so much for this video - excellent as always! One of my favorite channels on RUclips!
[Edit: also, hooray Shure SM7B microphone in the video! I JUST upgraded to one of these myself from a much cheaper, not quite as good, but still quite excellent (especially for the money) RØDE Podmic! I'll reply-to-self with the details and links to that episode as well as links to a recent earlier episode which still used the Podmic for a little "compare and contrast".]
Okay. The promised reply-to-self with the deets and links to my episode which debuted the same Shure SM7B microphone which they are using in this video:
First, the deets: I do a pair of video game music podcasts under the broader umbrella of "Nerd Noise Radio": the older of the two shows, active since 2017, "Channel 1" (subtitled "Noise from the Hearts of Nerds" and using episode numbering scheme "C1EX") is what I'll call a "mixtape plus" format - an uninterrupted musical journey through the winding, twisting waves of VGM, bookended by vaguely NPR-esque radio music program intros and outros. The newer program (active since 2020) is "Channel 2" (subtitled "Nerd Noise Game Club" and using episode numbering scheme "C2EX") and is more conversational. My co-host out of Chicago (named Hugues [pronounced "Hugh"] Johnson) and I taking turns sharing tracks and discussing them together.
Before the launch of either of these, NNR was a social media thing that just shared VGM and talked about them, and on that front, we just celebrated a decade in existence. In fact, this episode (a "Channel 1") not only debuts the SM7B, but also celebrates the occasion of our having been around for a decade by releasing on the exact anniversary, and focusing on the music we shared on social media prior to the launch of the pod which had never been featured in the show before.
Hence, you'll have to forgive the horribly, blatantly amateurish super low-res logo on this episode - given the occasion, I had opted to use our original "throwback" logo for this episode (a logo which hasn't been used since Dec 2017!)
Link for Spotify users:
open.spotify.com/episode/4oNyoSM0xD8DDRabYNlyyq?si=W3TnPaZhSaenkc0ywmQsIw&
Link for non-Spotify users:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/noise-from-the-hearts-of-nerds-c1e71-the-wonder-years/id1191401173?i=1000596674635
And for cross reference, another Ch 1 from Nov 2022. This one uses the cheaper RØDE Podmic in the intro and outro instead, so I don't think it sounds quite as good. On the other hand, it at least uses our current logo, which is at least marginally less amateurish (as well as higher res, more complex, and nowhere near as blatant of an NPR logo ripoff!) 😂
Link for Spotify users:
open.spotify.com/episode/6SyXVoXnabUllRK0BeDGbJ?si=kHFI_92HRmq_ms4guYtxdQ&
Link for non-Spotify users:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/channel-1-noise-from-the-hearts-of-nerds-c1e69/id1191401173?i=1000585408779
I am so happy I saw this, I actually grew up eating Seitan (even though I'm a white boy in america). I always got it in my favourite soba from this little vegetarian restaurant in bethany. I totally forgot the name, (if I ever new it) but I loved Seitan so much more than any meat or meat replacements in my food, and I was so upset that I didn't know what it was called. Im really excited to start making some and having it instead of some other meat "substitutes" (i could talk more about the meat substitute thing but basically, i dont want my hearty chewy ingredients to even be like meat, i just want a not meat one, like seitan!)
This is perfect! I've been missing the Liang Pi I used to get in NYC and even if I'm able to get the flavor and noodle texture right, none of our local seitan is giving me the soft spongy texture I've wanted. It's time I finally just learn how to make it myself.
Thumbs up for a very good vid indeed.
I will make this some time ... but _takes so long_ to make!!!
I bet they home prepared tastes so much better than store bought.
Ive been waiting for this for so long!
Wonderful video as always, Steph! Ive been looking for alternative protein sources since im not a huge fan of most meat. Soy doesn't agree with me, and fish isn't cheap (but id eat it every day if i could!)
Ive tried making Seitan before, but wasn't super happy with the results. Ill have to try again now!
so, so pumped to see this video! just washed my own gluten for the first time last week, actually!
"half centimeter wide and two inch long"... love the mixture of units :)
i used to do that as a kid because measuring fractionals was for some reason harder to me than using different measurement units
Ive had mianjin so many times, i didnt know the english name was saitan! Its good and soaks up flavor very well!
Oh I am going to totally try this tomorrow for lunch! I love seitain- but have only ever steamed it or fried it- I've never boiled it. Totally trying the wrapping around sticks, boiling, shredding, toasting method. Everything you make always looks delicious!
Best seitan video ever!
It's almost Seitanic
食谱非常好。非常好吃，看起来非常好 👍
I gotta try making this looks delicious. Thanks guys, you videos are always amazing and very helpfull and full of knowledge nuggets for my hungry brain
Hell yeee, good to see some actual chinese seitan content
Is cumin a common spice in chinese cooking? :o interesting. What a great video, im new to the channel and im cery amazed.
this gluten thing have more relax and chilling time than me
Great video!
Great format and easy explanations.
Please share how the people make this I. Hugs batches but preserve this for months, in its sun dried state- saw this on a cultural video
I love the history lesson, thank you.
🔱🔥 *H A I L S E I T A N* 🔥🔱
🤣
So great! I hope you share more seitan recipes. Thanks for sharing 😊
The shaping of the firm style reminded me of the fried milk in Dali (Yunnan)
Just subscribed to this channel!
Can we get a part 2 to this? I'd love to see more methods.
I haven't made this in ages, but what a coincidence that you both would post this video as I'd been planning to make it again for a bit now. Thanks for the reminders on the process as well as some tips I didn't know before!
Should've plugged your Cold Skin noodles video towards the end when talking about use for the starch batter as an alternative 😉
Could you do a video where you go over the Chinese map and the main culinary regions and trends ?
Cheers to you from Edmonton Alberta.
that looks so ingenious and delicious
awesome stuff as usual :)
I first saw this on the Magic Ingredients channel, where she also made noodles with the starch from washing. It kind of blew my mind. I still kind of can't believe that the dough doesn't just dissolve when you wash it. I KNOW it doesn't, obviously, but every time I see it it's like my brain goes "...nope, inaccurate, nuh-uh" 😂
Definitely going to try this someday.
I never knew what seitan actually was...this was fascinating! Thank you!
I love 上海烤麸. It's delicious :)
I used to make seitan from vital wheat gluten flour. I even had a web page where I put my recipes. I even had a recipe for "fakon". But that was many years ago, and since then I had to stop eating gluten after I found I was sensitive.
oooh, I've never heard of adding the yeast, I've got to try that!!
lol, i love the big animated hands "this big".
Hey Steph, this is a guy. I’ve seen people rest the dough in water and I’ve seen it with. Obviously it’s not necessary. Why do some people insist on it? Thanks!
Very interesting video Steph. Had absolutely no idea how 麵筋 is made. All my experience is ordering from a restaurant or opening a jar of it. showing us how to make it. Reminds me of how much I like to eat 烤麩 at Shanghainese restaurants which I have not eaten in years. I will be going to get some 烤麩 takeout very soon. Thank you for the great video.
I literally got takeout last night and wondered what those delicious little strips were. Didn't even occur to me that they were seitan! I ordered seitan intentionally exactly once from a vegan place and it had that off sour taste you describe, so I assumed I just didn't like the stuff. Thanks for setting me straight :)
This is an excellent video.
I saw Emmymade and a couple of other RUclipsrs, sorry I forgot who, make this into vegetarian "chicken breast" patties. It looked amazingly similar when it was cooked. I thought it was a novel idea at the time, thinking it was something someone recently figured out. Should have known it was an ancient Chinese secret. Great video, I just recently found you guys and think you have some great content.
Amazing… just wonderful
i've been wanting to try a seitan version of meat-based recipes from this channel. when it comes to blanching and toasting, would it make sense to just blanch and then apply a marinade, e.g. like a soy/sugar/salt/liaojiu one like you'd see in a pork stir fry recipe? or should i blanch and toast and then try to get a coating on the seitan with a sauce during the stir fry process 🤔
nice video, I am not a vegetarian but I do think it would be good reduce our meat consumption for many reasons, so I would like to try cooking with seitan someday. Also is your microphone a SM7B? I think recognize it haha
Hail Seitan! 😂
Do you have any more information on the grilling seitan on skewers over fire thing? seems like it would be an amazing addition to a BBQ
Try searching for it in Chinese but here a recipe I've badly google translated. (The measurement was equal to 2.8 ts so I rounded up)
Gluten 4 (seitan globs? Idk measure with your heart)
Chili powder 6 teaspoons
Sesame 6 teaspoons
Cumin powder 12 teaspoons
Cumin seeds 3 teaspoons
Salt 6 teaspoons
soy sauce 3 teaspoons
Stab gluten on bamboo stick, boil it, cut in a spiral (like a slinky), put the spice on, 200c(400f ish) in an oven for 12 min, baste with chili and sesame oil, back in the oven for 4.
Idk if this is a good recipe coz I haven't made it yet and have never tasted it but I plan to!! Hope this is helpful!!!♡
Such amazing and thorough video, have you made or started making a cookbook yet? If so post a link to where I can buy it. Side note, no Shaoxing wine in the seitan dishes?!?
This just blows my mind. Who even thought of doing this in the first place???
As with most foods throughout history, it probably started as an accident, but then people liked it so much they refined it through trial and error
So sorry for being off-topic but I hope someday we can see a "(maybe Hong Kong) Milk Tea" episode on CCD
Excellent video
Fantastic video as I have always wanted to make this wheat meat as I want to reduce my meat intake. Thank you very mush!!!!!!
From just looking at the thumbnail I actually thought this is a new Adam Ragusea video.
adam ragusea if he cooked chinese instead of italian. something something 'why i season my wok and not my food'
0:15 "this is wheat gluten, aka Satan"
sure is according to some people
QUESTION: For the spongy gluten, are the measurement for sugar and yeast based on the full 500g flour, or only half? I am looking forward to trying this out soon.
The true is even in a romam empire they use glútem to be strongs warriors😊 glútem is very good as a Soure of protein. You only avoid it if you have celiac disease or some kind of intolerance! Tnks for the vídeo 🙏🏻
very informative! thank you.
What is he salt / msg box you have? looks pretty cool! I've searched on google but don't seem to be able to find the one that has the spoon holder in the middle. thanks in advanced! :)
I just bought it on Taobao, so google probably doesn't have it~
上海考夫是我小时候的最爱 😁
The photo of Steph's wet hand holding the ball of gluten looks almost like brains or something equally internal and gruesome to me as a vegetarian! 😂
The tip about adding in some regular flour with viral wheat gluten is really useful.
My favourite seitan has been from the London vegan mini-chain Temple of Seitan, they do the best vegan fried not-chicken. Being in the north of England I have to settle for Doner Summer instead who also do similar vegan fried not-chicken, and also vegan kebabs, though I prefer the texture of Temple of Seitan.
Every time she'd gently spank that lump of gluten had me dying, lol 😆