Vegan Chicken

Delicious, versatile vegan chicken! Made from seitan, this is recipe number one in my Vegan Essentials series for Veganuary 2021! It's ideal for stir fries, fried chicken, kebabs - you name it!

Prep Time15

Cook Time1

Brining Time8

Total Time9 15

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: All

Keyword: seitan chicken, vegan chicken

Servings: portions

Calories: 192kcal

Equipment

High Speed Blender
Steamer or Steamer Basket

Ingredients

For the Vegan Chicken

439 g pack of silken tofu
400 g tin of cannellini beans (including the soaking water)
6 tablespoon vegetable oil (make sure it's neutral flavoured: sunflower, rapeseed, canola will do)
2 teaspoon flaky sea salt
2 tbsp white miso paste
2 teaspoon rice vinegar (alternatively use apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar)
380 g vital wheat gluten
1 teaspoon garlic powder

For the Brine

3 cloves garlic (crushed)
4 tablespoon white miso paste
120 ml dry white wine (make sure it's a vegan variety)
2 tablespoon sugar
500 ml just boiled water
2 tablespoon mushroom bouillon (or 2 mushroom stock cubes)
2 teaspoon flaky sea salt
4 bay leaves

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

To Make the Vegan Chicken

Place the tofu, cannellini beans (and their water), 3 tablespoon of the vegetable oil, sea salt, miso paste and rice vinegar into the largest cup or jug attachment of a high speed blender. Blend on high speed for a minimum of 1 minute. Remove the cup, shake it well or use a spatula to make sure no chunks are stuck to the side then blend again for another 30 seconds until very smooth and creamy.
Add the vital wheat gluten and the garlic powder to the mixture and blend until the mixture is smooth and very stretchy. Add the remaining 3 tablespoon vegetable oil and blend again for at least 30 seconds. At this stage, the seitan dough should be very stringy – almost like the texture of tough chewing gum (don't worry – this is correct – it won't be like this once cooked!).
Divide the seitan chicken dough into 8 pieces, roughly 150g each. Working with one at a time, pinch the edges of the piece of seitan and tuck it over and into the centre, making one smooth side and one folded, tucked side. Roughly shape the dough into a fillet. Repeat with the remaining pieces.
Lay a sheet of greaseproof paper on a clean surface and place the fillet on top. Fold the sides of the greaseproof paper over and wrap tightly. Alternatively you can use muslin/cheesecloth to wrap the seitan and bind it tightly with string.
IMPORTANT: it's essential that each fillet is wrapped as tightly as possible otherwise the seitan will expand and become spongy rather than firm and meaty.
Place the tightly wrapped seitan chicken "breasts" into a steamer. A bamboo or an electric steamer will work fine. Steam for at least 1 hour. After an hour, give the fillets a little prod. They should be firm and bouncy rather than soft and doughy.
Once steamed, remove the seitan chicken from the steamer and without unwrapping, leave to cool for at least 20 minutes. While the chicken cools, prepare the marinade.

To Make the Brine

Put the crushed garlic, miso paste, dry white wine and sugar in a medium bowl and whisk together until a smooth paste forms. Set aside.
Once your vegan chicken is cooled, unwrap it and use your hands to pull apart each piece into two (don't slice with a knife as the torn, meaty texture helps the chicken to soak up flavour).
Place the vegan chicken into a large tupperware container with a lid or a large deep baking tin. Pour over the miso/wine mixture and use your hands to rub the marinade into the vegan chicken.
Add the just boiled water to a large measuring jug and add the remaining brine ingredients. Pour over the chicken pieces while the brine is still hot and use a fork to make sure all the chicken is covered in liquid. Cover with reusable wrap or a lid and allow the brine to cool to room temperature on the counter. Once cooled, place in the fridge and leave to marinate for a minimum of 8 hours, ideally 12 if you can.
Once the chicken has marinated for a minimum of 8 hours, it is ready to use.
For shredded chicken, use a fork to pull apart the marinated vegan chicken into fine shreds. For chunks either pull the vegan chicken apart by hand for a rough texture or slice into pieces with a knife.

Nutrition