HEALTH WATCH

Wheat Meat?
Tried seitan yet? The meat substitute
made from wheat.

By Nancy Ross Ryan
SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE
May 10, 2000

For decades (beginning in late '70s) tofu has been the favorite alternative to meat for vegetarians and also for non-vegetarians looking for the occasional cholesterol-free meat substitute. Only recently, "Within the last two or three years," estimates David Lipschutz, owner of Evanston's 20-year-old Blind Faith Cafe (525 Dempster), has seitan, another meat substitute that tops tofu for versatility, been getting some respect. Lipschutz credits seitan's growing public image to availability, marketing and its meatlike texture. "Until recently there was no mass-production or marketing of seitan," he says. But now it's available in several ready-to-use varieties and flavors. "And," Lipschutz adds, "Seitan mocks meat in texture and style, and it's more versatile than tofu and tempeh." (Tempeh, or fermented soybeans, is another alternative to meat, less popular than tofu.)

So, what is this thing called seitan which appears on Blind Faith's menu in several forms? Meaty little strips (you'd swear it's beef) are showcased in fajitas, Mongolian seitan stir fry and traditional Korean beef dishes. Seitan also stars at Chinese vegetarian restaurants as mock beef, pork and duck. At Vegetarian Garden (237 W. Cermak Road) seitan is used to create such dishes as Sweet and Sour "Pork", Kung Pao "Beef" and Mongolian "Beef" the chef's speciality.

Seitan is the Japanese word for cooked wheat gluten, traditionally flavored with soy sauce broth. The word, coined in the mid '60s by macrobiotics guru George Ohsawa, has since come to mean all cooked, seasoned gluten. In its uncooked form, all seitan is gluten. And gluten is the protein part of wheat -- that gives bread its "rise" -- extracted from hard wheat flour by washing away the starch and bran, leaving only the gluten. The remaining bland, pale, stretchy substance has a chewy meatlike texture and, once flavored and cooked, tastes remarkably like meat.

Although relatively new to the West, seitan is an ancient food, and has been traditional fare (under other names) in China, Korea, Japan, Russia and the Middle East -- wherever wheat was plentiful -- for centuries. It's also a staple in the diet of Mormons. Chinese call wheat gluten mien chin and also "Buddha food," because it was originally created by Buddhist monks whose diet was vegetarian. Before commercial production, gluten had to be made by hand, a laborious process: Wheat flour is mixed with water, kneaded into dough. allowed to rest to develop gluten, then kneaded continuously under warm and cold water rinses to remove the starch and bran until only the elastic, smooth, doughlike gluten remains. Only then is gluten ready to flavor and cook.

But today, the availability and variety of commercially produced, ready-to-use seitan has taken wing. Seitan can be purchased refrigerated or frozen in blocks, chunks, strips, and ground at health food stores (such as Sherwyn's) and natural food supermarkets (such as Whole Foods). Some forms of seitan spotted in Chicago land markets include:

8-oz. blocks of seitan packed in tubs like tofu in three flavors -- traditional, chicken style and unflavored ($3.19 to $3.39, White Wave brand);
15-oz. packages of sloppy Joe mix ($2.99 to $3.19, White Wave);
6-oz. fajita strips ($3.95, White Wave);
8-oz. savory seitan chunks in both teriyaki and bbq sauce ($2.99, Lightlife);
4.5-oz. packages of cold cuts -- chicken-, turkey- and salami-style ($2.69, Vegi-Deli);
5.5-oz. lunch meats -- turkey-, chicken- and pastrami-style ($1.99, White Wave);
12-oz. packages of Smart grind ground seitan ($3.49, Lightlife).

Although nutritional analysis varies with the style, seitan, ounce for ounce, is as high in protein, and much lower in fat than tofu, slightly higher in calories and carbohydrates. At about 20 calories and 1.2 gm fat per oz. for tofu, and 34 calories and less than 1 gm fat per oz. for seitan, both can be considered low calorie and low fat compared to animal protein sources such as chicken and beef. And of course there's no cholesterol in seitan -- or tofu.

Determined do-it-yourself cooks can make seitan at home the quick way by simply mixing together high gluten flour and water. Gluten flour, as the name suggests, has already had the bran and starch removed. But most of us will head for the convenient ready-to-use forms. How to cook it? Lipschutz says, "I always tell people, just take chicken or beef out of about any recipe and replace it with seitan." Seitan pot pies, stews, tetrazini, spaghetti, stir-fry, barbecue sandwich? -- Give it a try.