Crispy "Chik'n" Seitan with Cornbread Waffles

I’m pretty sure that this recipe makes me an official southerner. Chicken and waffles is such a classic dish here in North Carolina. This dish will impress vegans and meat eaters alike. Serve it to guests for breakfast, lunch, or dinner! This recipe makes 4 crispy "chik'n" seitan cutlets and 4 cornbread waffles!

This one takes some effort, but is definitely worth it. I’ve given it a difficulty rating of “Hard” only because it is really easy to ruin homemade seitan. 

Here are my tips:

• Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes, but no longer! The more you knead the dough, the gummier the texture.
• Let your dough rest for at least 10 minutes before cooking.
• Do not let your water come to a full boil. You want your water to just barely come to a simmer. Maintain this simmer to ensure your seitan does not become spongy and gummy. Do not cover your pot to help keep the temperature low.
• It is not necessary, but I recommend letting your seitan sit overnight to fully develop the flavor. 

I hope this helps!

 

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Difficulty: Hard

 

Ingredients:

Crispy “Chik’n” Seitan:

Seitan:

1 cup Vital Wheat Gluten

¼ cup Garbanzo Bean Flour

1 tbsp Nutritional Yeast

¾ tsp Poultry Seasoning

½ tsp Onion Powder

½ tsp Garlic Powder

¼ tsp Pepper 

1 cup Vegetable Broth

 

Broth:

3 cups Vegetable Broth

3 cups Water

¼ cup Soy Sauce

 

Fry batter:

2 tbsp Ground Flaxseed

6 tbsp Warm Water

 

1 cup Flour

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp Onion Powder

½ tsp Pepper

 

Cornbread Waffles:

1 tbsp Ground Flaxseed

3 tbsp Warm Water

1 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk

1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

 

1 cup Flour

1 cup Yellow Cornmeal

⅔ cup Sugar

1 tbsp Baking Powder

⅓ cup Vegetable Oil

½ tsp Salt

 

Directions:

Crispy “Chik’n” Seitan:

Seitan:

1. In a small mixing bowl, mix vital wheat gluten, garbanzo bean flour, and seasonings. 
2. Add 1 cup vegetable broth to the dry mixture. Mix well to make a soft dough.
3. Knead the dough for about 5-7 minutes. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. 
4. While the dough is resting, add the broth ingredients to a large pot. 
5. Put the pot over medium-high heat until the broth is just barely simmering. Reduce the heat to low. 
6. Cut the dough into quarters and gently place into the simmering broth. 
7. Cook the seitan at a low simmer for 1 hour. Do not cover the pot and make sure the broth does not come to a full boil.
8. After seitan is cooked, remove the seitan from the pot and allow to cool.
9. If saving the seitan for later, place in a tupperware container and cover with broth. 

 

Frying Seitan:

1. In a small bowl, mix ground flaxseed with warm water to create a flax egg.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together flour and spices.
3. Dip seitan in dry mix, then in the flax egg, followed by the dry mix again. Coat the seitan in another layer of the flax egg followed by the dry mix for a thicker, crispier crust.
4. On the stove top, heat 3-4 cups of oil in a 3-quart frying pan over medium-high heat. The oil should be about ¼ inch deep. *Note: the oil gets hot pretty quickly (about 5 minutes). Cover the frying pan to ensure you don’t get burned by the hot oil!*
5. While oil is heating, line a baking tray with paper towels. Place cooling trays on top of the lined baking sheet for the seitan to cool once fried. 
6. Test the temperature of oil with a wooden spoon. If the bubbles form around the mouth of the spoon when put into the frying pan, the oil is  ready. 
7. Add seitan to the frying pan. Make sure that seitan is not touching and that you have room to flip them. 
8. Fry seitan for about 7-10 minutes, flipping halfway through. The seitan is done when the coating has turned a dark golden color.
9. Place seitan on the cooling racks to cool before serving.

 

Cornbread Waffles:

1. Preheat the waffle iron.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix flaxseed, warm water, milk and vinegar. Set aside for 5 minutes.
3. Add flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, oil, and salt to the mixing bowl. Mix well.
4. Spray pre-heated waffle iron with non-stick cooking oil. Carefully pour batter onto the waffle iron and close to cook. Cook cornbread waffles until they are crisp with a golden brown crust.

 

Enjoy!