You will need a large bowl and a soup pot to make seitan.

Make the seitan:

Measure 8 ounces/225 grams of seitan into a large bowl. Pour 6 ounces/170 ml of water into the bowl and mix it up with a wooden spoon or your clean hands. It should quickly cohere into a rubbery mass resembling the toy slime of your childhood. If you need to add a bit more water or flour, do so, but not too much. The dough will feel bouncy and appear rather unappetizing. Knead for about five minutes, then cover with a dishtowel and let it rest for 20 minutes. Do not let it rest more than 30 minutes.

While the dough rests, prepare the broth. Pour 6 cups/1.5 liters of water into a large soup pot and heat to low simmer.

Add the ingredients listed and allow to simmer over low heat.

When 20 minutes has elapsed, cut the dough into two portions. Bittman advises rolling the seitan into log shapes before adding it to the broth, but I found my seitan resistant to shaping. I had two rubbery beige things that stubbornly refused to do anything I asked of them, so I just slipped them into the pot.

Turn the heat up, bring the broth to a boil, then back down to a simmer. Cover the pot. Turn the seitan once or twice with tongs or a slotted spoon during poaching. It will double in size during cooking time and float rather than remain submerged. This is okay.

After the hour is up, take a test slice. The seitan will appear dense. If this is okay with you, turn off heat and allow seitan to cool in the broth. If you prefer a fluffier finished product, let seitan cook another 15-30 minutes.

Once the seitan is cooked to your liking, turn off heat. Allow seitan to cool before using immediately, refrigerating up to five days, or freezing for several months.

Notes:

Bittman gives instructions for preparing seitan using a mixer or food processor. Here they are:

–Mix the dough in a mixer for two minutes. Use dough hook.

–In a food processor, mix for thirty seconds. Use plastic blade.

Proceed with recipe.

I ordered the vital gluten flour from Kalyustan’s. It is available in some markets, including Berkeley Bowl.

In How To Cook Everything Vegetarian, Mark Bittman gives two recipes for seitan simmering broths, one with an Asian flavor profile, the other a milder, more neutral broth. As I use seitan to prepare Asian dishes, I used Asian pantry ingredients for my poaching broth. Don’t feel bound by my recipe; much of what I used was based on the contents of my fridge. Do avoid wilted vegetables and highly sulfurous ones like cabbage, kale, or turnips.

Dried mushrooms can be expensive. As noted above, the lobster mushrooms were bought for a special occasion that never arrived. Feel free to omit them.

if you are not concerned with strict vegetarianism, chicken broth is fine. I would avoid beef or fish broths, as their strong flavors may affect the taste of your final dish.

If you prefer using commerical broths, be mindful of their salt content and flavor profile. Low salt, lighter vegetable or poultry broths are the best choices. Bullion cubes are not a good choice for this recipe.

Broth may be refrigerated three to five days. After that, if you want to keep it refrigerated, boil it for five minutes. It is then safe to refrigerate for another three to five days.

Broth may be frozen and used again for your next seitan adventure. To do so, cool quickly, strain, and freeze. When using again, add fresh vegetables and aromatics. Taste for seasoning: broth will likely need more. If it tastes dull or off in any way, toss and prepare a fresh batch.