Seitan

Directions

Mix the flour and water together to make a medium-stiff dough.

Knead it until it is elastic when pulled (about 8 to 10 minutes).

Allow the dough to rest for about 5 minutes in a bowl of cold water.

Wash out the starch by filling a large bowl (1½ to 2 gallons) with warm water and kneading the dough in it, underwater.

When the water turns white (after 1 to 2 minutes), drain it through a strainer, adding the floury residue back to the ball of dough.

Keep kneading, washing, and changing the water, until no more starch is given off.

This may take as many as eight rinses, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Pour 6 pints of water into a large pot.

Add the tamari, onion, kombu, ginger, and dough, and simmer for about 3 hours.

(To speed up the cooking, you could cut the dough into small pieces, each about 1½ inch; the pieces would cook in about one hour. ) The seitan is properly cooked when it is firm to the touch and when it is firm in the center.

You can check by cutting into the seitan.

If it is not done, it will feel like raw dough in the center.