The other day I left all my research up on the computer when Matthew came in to use it. From the other room I hear " um...hey hon - what's all this stuff about satan?" I must admit, I was a bit taken back. I thought for a moment and realized. " ah, it's pronounced se-tahn" Matthew was confused but relieved.
When I first started researching seitan I thought, "no way, anything pronounced satan can not be good and must be avoided at all costs." But now I know it's called that because it's so tempting!
Seitan is basically vital wheat gluten but Seitan sounds so much more rebellious and on the edge. My adventures with it have been less then successful, except when it comes to vegan spam.
Now, I know you're asking yourself, why would you want to eat something who's name sounds like satan and, if you're going to go vegan and take the time to make faux meat why on earth would you spend the time on SPAM? well, I'll tell you - MUSUBIES! I haven't met one I didn't love or met anyone else who didn't love them either. In fact, when I was doing research on vegan spam (yes, there are others like me out there) all of them wanted to make spam for the purpose of filling their musubie craving! One lady even made it with peanut butter in the shape of a can. That's so cool! I'm a little less adventurous.
In a state where seven million cans of spam are consumed every year (that's an average of 16 cans per person per year) and they even have a spam festival to celebrate this celebrity meat, "it wouldn't, it couldn't, it musn't, it wouldn't" be poly week without musubie.....
Vegan Spam
1/4 cup cooked pasta
1/4 c cooked rice
1/4 c oats
1/4 c soy sauce
1 bullion cube
1 tsp salt
1/2 c chopped celery
1/4 -1/2 c vital wheat gluten
1 tb water
Start a large pot of boiling water. In the food processor blend the pasta and celery with enough water to make it smooth. In a large bowl mush the rice with a fork till it's um, mushy. Now add everything else, adding the vital wheat gluten at the last. Now form your dough into a loaf and wrap it in tin foil. Add the tablespoon of water, wrap it up and put it in the pot of boiling water. Cover with a lid. The spam is finished when it has expanded to fill the tin foil (about 40 min).
Musubies
cooked rice
vegan spam
nori, or seaweed paper
Slice your vegan spam about 1/4 an inch thick. Saute it in a pan with EVOO till both sides are brown. Make a ball out of the cooked rice (having wet hands helps to keep the rice from sticking to you) keep kneading it till it sticks together. Place the spam on top of the rice and wrap in nori. This makes for a great portable lunch, just wrap in plastic wrap and go.
When I was young we were blessed to have many foreign exchange students live in our home, most of them being from Japan. This was a great cultural experience for us kids as we learned to love the culture, the people, and the food through their influence.
This was all cool until, as a 3rd grader, I went to school with sushi in my lunch box. In theory this sounded cool. In practice it was not. You should have seen the faces I got. I was shamed for the rest of my elementary career. Of course, it didn't help that my mom kept insisting that it was cool and did it on a regular basis.
Jump forward to the present. I still love sushi and as an adult I'm glad I can wear this out in the open. I'm even part of an elite sushi club. Yes, it's true. I'm in a club of four women that eat sushi together in Salt Lake City Utah. Now, you may ask, sushi, in Salt lake? Yes, in fact, some of the best sushi I have had was in a town called logan in northern utah. If you are ever on a sushi eating tour call me and I'll give you details.
On one of our club excursions we met at the restaurant and ordered edamames for an appetizer. Come to find out, this was the first time one of our members had had them. Thinking they were snap peas she ate the whole thing, pod and all. I would not recommend this. After the meal, when she realized the rest of us has been putting the pods in a separate bowl, she laughed and confessed she had secretly been spitting them in her napkin the whole time to which she displayed a napkin full of pods.
This recipe can be as spicy or mild as you wish, just add the chili sauce a little at a time. I used to make it with imitation crap but now I substitute garbanzo beans and I like it just as much. I even got a little kid who is a picky eater to like this. His eyes were watering the whole time because of the heat but he kept coming back for more. I'm sure you will too.
Sushi
cooked rice
seaweed paper/nori
1/2 c garbanzo beans
Vietnamese chili sauce
veganaise
1/2 avocado
1/2 cucumber sliced length wise
wax paper
sesame seeds
Cook the rice and let it cool out of the fridge. If it cools in the fridge it will go hard. In a blender, add the garbanzo beans, a spoonful of veganaise, and chili sauce (add a little at a time). Slice your cucumber and avocado length wise. Place a sheet of nori on the wax paper and wet your hands (this will help keep the rice from sticking to you). Take a handful of rice and form it into a ball the size of a baseball. Keep working with it till it holds together well. This brings out the gluten so it will stick to your nori. Now put it on your seaweed and spread it around pressing it into your nori till the whole sheet is covered. Now flip the sheet over so the rice is on the bottom. On one long end of the sheet, layer the garbanzo bean mixture, sliced avocado, and cucumber. With 2 hands start to roll the sushi. Roll with the wax paper (make sure you don't roll it in) this will help keep it tight. To seal it, wet the nori at the end and squeeze it together. Now roll it in sesame seeds. To cut, use a very sharp knife. Cut the tube in half and then put the two halves together. Keep doing this until they are 1/4-1/2 an inch thick. Stack on a serving plate and serve with wasabi and soy sauce.
Steam or blanch your edamames and sprinkle with sea salt. Remember not to eat the pod!
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