THE SPIRITUAL BACKGROUND OF VEGAN “MEAT OF THE FIELDS” AND SEA-MEAT SEITAN RECIPES (2024)

THESPIRITUAL BACKGROUND OF VEGAN “MEAT OF THE FIELDS”

Originally posted on Vegan Mainstream byBryanna Clark Grogan onJanuary21,2014
©2019 Bryanna Clark Grogan. All Rights Reserved.

Here are some recipes that I developed for theVegan Mainstream Cookbook Clubas their "January Chef" in 2014. This entailed writing an article, with recipes and photos, and doing a video chat with the wonderful andpatientStephanie Redcross and Emma Laroque.
If you'd like to see the video of the live chat,it's available here. It was fun chatting with Stephanie, who is in Georgia (USA) and Emma, who lives across the Straight, not far from where I live!

Igrew up in California, most of that time in San Francisco, withinwalking distance to Fisherman’s Wharf. The majority of the rest ofmy life has been spent on the West Coast of British Columbia(pre-and-post-vegan). My father was Peruvian, with an Italian mother.These facts alone might explain why I have seafood cravings to thisday, 25 years after becoming vegan.

Somevegans, the ones who turn up their noses at any sort of replicationof animal proteins, might say “get over it and eat some noriseaweed” (which I do from time to time), but inventing dishes is mycraft, if you will. I can’t help being inspired by memories of thedelicious meals of my past. I have a keen memory for outstandingmeals—the tastes, smells and textures of certain dishes.

Don’tget me wrong—I love beans and grains, nuts and vegetables, and weeat them regularly and enthusiastically. But certain dishes of one’sculture, family background, holiday customs, and where we grew upstick with us, conjure up wonderful memories and feelings of comfortand pleasure. To deny these feelings, especially those of anothervegan, out of some effort to be “pure”, even when no animal isharmed, seems misguided to me.

BACKIN TIME

Interestingly,(considering the “purity” angle), fine vegetarian cuisinedeveloped first in Buddhist monasteries. The importation of Buddhismfrom India during the Han Dynasty (C.E. 58-75) influenced thedevelopment of a sophisticated vegetarian cuisine, since one of thefive abstentions of orthodox Buddhism is an injunction against takinglife. According to Hsiang Ju Lin and Tsuifeng Lin in theirbook"ChineseGastronomy"(HastingsHouse, NY, 1969):

“Buddhistsare vegetarians, consequently a small pocket of gastronomy hasdeveloped, fascinating in its attempt to create the ordinary flavoursand appearance of fish and meat byusing vegetarian ingredients.The Buddhists, whether monks or ordinary people, mingled freely withthe non-vegetarians, and because the manners of Chinese society areall-embracing and diffuse, felt obliged to provide food which lookedand almost tasted like meat. This was a sign of hospitality.”

Wealthyladies would make pilgrimages to the city temples, having ordered avegetarian lunch in advance. (This was apparently one of the fewoccasions on which wealthy women could go out by themselves.) Theauthors continue:

“Theschool of cooking which originated in the temple kitchens expandedand was taken up by the Yangchow cooks, specializing in delicatepastries and noodles. The challenge of simulating textures andappearance was irresistible. They were, in fact, able to reproduceeven the intricate diamond pattern of duck skin, by lightly scoringsmooth bean curd and filling in the cuts with a soy sauce mixture.Vegetarianism, which had originated for ethical reasons, finallybecame the gastronome’s business, and fell into the fine hands ofthe pastry cook.”

Thepious Buddhist Emperor Wu (Wudi) of the Liang dynasty (also known asthe Southern Liang Dynasty, C.E. 502-557), who donned monk’s robesseveral times throughout his reign, wrote an essay entitled "ForsakeAlcohol and Meat",in which he urged Buddhists to become vegetarians. He modelled muchof his rule after the Indian Buddhist Emperor Ashoka of the MauryaDynasty (273 -32 B.C.E), establishing Buddhism as the state religionof China, and prohibiting monks from drinking wine and killinganimals. From that time on, vegetarianism in China was linked withthe Buddhist prohibition against taking life. To this day, manyChinese and Japanese Buddhists sects prohibit eating meat.

Although tofu and other Chinese soy products are strongly associated with Chinese vegetarian cuisine, it is less well-known that wheat gluten may have been introduced into Chinese cuisine as early as during the reign of Emperor Wu (see paragraph above). The making of a sort of proto-gluten is described in the Chhi MinYao Shu ("Notes on Miscellaneous Affairs"; C.E .544[LiangDynasty]).

Eventually, wheat gluten was called mien chin, meaning“the sinew of flour”, and was a well-established term by the Sungperiod (C.E. 969-1279), mentioned in writings of the time. A passageabout iron and steel from Shên Kua’s Mêng Chhi Pi Than ("DreamPool Essays", C.E. 1086) reads: “Steel is to iron as mien chin(gluten) is to mien (flour). It is only after thoroughly washing thedough that gluten is revealed.”

Glutenwas mentioned over the centuries by many writers and scholars, evenin novels, such as Hsi Yu Chi ("Journey to the West", C.E. 1570) and JuLin Wai Shi ("The Unofficial History of the Literati"— C.E. 1740.).This indicates that gluten was accepted outside of the circle ofBuddhist ascetics. Recipes for cooking gluten are found in the majorculinary works of the Yuan to the Qing (Chhing) Dynasties (C.E. 1279-1912).

Over the centuries, Chinese chefs devised ever more elaborate recipes for meatless “meats”, “seafood”, and “poultry”. Stella Lau Fessler, in her book "Chinese Meatless Cooking", wrote: “To a Chinese cook, imitating certain meat dishes with non-meat ingredients is not simply a matter of replacing the meat. It is instead an effort to show off the great culinary art of China, to make the impossible possible.”

So,this is nothing new, obviously, and we vegan cooks who devise modernhomemade meat and seafood substitutes have a great example and proudlineage to follow.

IT’SALL IN THE NAME

Whatdo we call these products, anyway? “Meat analog” or “meatalternative” or “meat substitute” sound dull and unappetizing,and “gluten”? Well, I’ll let my friend David Lee, founder ofthe Field Roast Co. from Seattle, explain why he coined another termfor it: “Youknow, gluten, the word for wheat protein, is kindof an odd word. I think it’s kind of an unfortunate word. I wish itwasn’t called gluten because gluten is kind of—you know,‘glue-tahn’—it’s just kind of an ‘uhh’-sounding word.It’s a word that I actually try to avoid.”

Asyou probably know, David calls his products “grain meat”. Heexplained to me: “…meat wasn’t exclusively associated withanimal meats, or animal flesh. As a matter of fact, I think you canfind in any dictionary that the word ‘meat’ used to mean ‘food’or ‘meal’, and also meant ‘substance’ (as in ‘the meat ofthe story’ or ‘the meat of the matter’). Think also of the word‘nutmeat’ and how soy was called ‘the meat of the field’ inChina.”

Healso points out how milk is not exclusively dairy-based anymore—thereare bean milks, like soy; grain milks, like oat and rice; seed milks,like quinoa, hemp and flax; and nut milks, such as almond, cashew,coconut and hazelnut. Soy why not “grain meat”, “nut meat”,soy meat”, etc.?

INTHE KITCHEN AGAIN

Deliciousmodern gluten/seitan/grain meat-based recipes abound on the Internetthese days (often with the addition of other grain and legumeflours), and in the pages of vegan cookbooks, but it’s difficult tofind good recipes to satisfy those seafood cravings I was mentioningbefore. There are fewer seafood sub recipes online, and there arecommercial products that I’ve read about, but they never seem to beavailable where I live. So I have had to devise my own recipes.There’s a “salmon” recipe in my bookWorldVegan Feast(VeganHeritage Press, 2011), but what I miss the most is shellfish—notonly the taste, but the texture. The basic recipe I’m going toshare with you below is satisfying to me, versatile, inexpensive,freeze-able and relatively easy to make. (I’m also including somefavorite recipes using the basic product.) I hope you will enjoythese homemade products as much as I do, and devise your own recipesfor using them.

INGREDIENTS:
Mushroom/KombuBroth: (Make this first and cool thoroughly.)
51/2 cups boiling water
10 medium-sized dried shiitake mushroomsor Chinese dried black forest mushrooms
1/3 cup dried boletus,mixed wild, or porcini mushrooms(or, if necessary,use about 16 shiitakes or Chinese mushrooms and omit the boletus orporcini)
1/2oz dried kombu seaweed
Drymix:
2cup pure gluten powder (vital wheat gluten) (Seethis link for how to tell if you have the right product)
1/2cup chickpea flour, white bean flour, soy flour, or urad dal flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic granules
WetMix:
11/2 cups cold Mushroom/Kombu Broth (see above)
12 oz extra-firmregular (NOT silken) tofu, broken up
1 tablespoon oil
1teaspoon salt
CookingBroth:
31/4 cups hot Mushroom/Kombu Broth (seeabove at top of ingredient list)
1tablespoon vegetarian “oyster” sauce (seerecipe and info for commercial brands below)
1teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic granules

DIRECTIONS:

Mushroom/KombuBroth (Makethis first and cool thoroughly):
Soakthe mushrooms and kombu in the boiling water, covered, for about 30minutes, then strain. Freeze the mushrooms for future use in recipes,if you have no use for them right away. Discard the kombu.

Tocool off the broth quickly, place it in a shallow dish or bowl andplace in the freezer until cool. DO NOT use hot broth in the Wet Mix!Hot liquid will make the seitan stringy.

Forthe Wet Mix, blend all of the ingredients until very smoothin a blender or food processor.

Mixthe Dry Mix ingredients in the bowl of your electric mixerwith dough hook attachment, or place them in the bread machine in theorder given. Add the cooled Wet Mix and knead for about 10 minutes.(If your bread machine has a dough cycle-two kneads with a longrest in between, use that cycle. Otherwise, just run it through thekneading part and then unplug it and let it rest in the coveredcontainer, then plug it in again for another knead, then remove it.)Let rest for about 1 hour, covered.


Dividethe dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll each one out on a cleancountertop with a rolling pin to make a rectangle about 3/4-inchthick. Cut each rectangle into 4 squares (more or less). Roll thesquares out to about 3/8″-thick. The pieces will be thicker aftercooking. Repeat until you have rolled all the dough out this way:

Preheatthe oven to 300°F.

Placethe seitan squares in 2 oiled 9×13″ baking pans. The squares canoverlap a bit. Pour half of the Cooking Broth over the seitan in eachpan. Cover with foil. Bake 30 minutes. Turn the cutlets over, coverand cook 15-30 minutes more. (You just want to let the cutletsabsorb all of the broth, not really brown them, so keep an eye onthem.) Separate them carefully. Cool them before proceeding. (Youcan place them on a platter and cool them quickly in the freezer, ifyou wish.)

Tocut the Sea-Meat Scallops:

Cut as many rounds as possibleout of the cooled seitan squares with a 1″ wide or slightlysmallerround cookie cutter. (I had to buy a set of round cookie cuttersin order to obtain one of this size).

Grind the scraps coarsely in a food processor to use for Chopped Sea-Meat (clam substitute). NOTE: All seitan freezes well.

Nutrition(per serving):98.3 calories; 22% calories from fat; 2.6g total fat;0.0mgcholesterol; 140.0mg sodium; 73.8mg potassium; 5.3gcarbohydrates; 0.5g fiber; 1.3gsugar;14.1g protein; 2.1 points.

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White "Clam" sauce using ground "Sea-Meat"

HOMEMADEVEGAN “SEAFOOD” SATISFIES SOME NOSTALGIC CRAVINGS

Printable Recipe

Serves5

Thisis a “veganization” of an old favorite from my childhood. I cutthe olive oil down as far as I could, but you MUST have some in thissauce! You can serve this with a vegan parmesan substitute, but thistype of dish is normally eaten without cheese.

INGREDIENTS:
1lb linguine, spaghetti or other pasta of choice (Iused farfalle or bowtie pasta in the photo)
1/4cup good extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
6cloves garlic, minced
Optional:a few pinches of dried oregano or basil
1 cup Vegan “SeaStock” (seerecipe below)
1/2cup dry white wine or white vermouth (canbe non-alcoholic)
1/2teaspoon salt
2 cups (looselypacked) ChoppedSea-Meat (seethis link)
1/2cup chopped fresh parsley
Optional:freshly-ground black pepper to taste, or pinch of red chile pepperflakes

DIRECTIONS:

Placea large pot of water on to boil for the pasta.

Heat theoil in a large heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot butnot smoking. Add the onion, stirring, until starting to be golden,about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, and optional herbs, if using. Cook,stirring occasionally, until garlic is golden, about 2 minutes. Stirin the Vegan “Sea Stock” andwine, and boil, uncovered,stirring occasionally, until slightly reduced, about 3 minutes.

Cookthe pasta in the pot of boiling salted water until al dente, thendrain in a colander.

While pasta is cooking, stir the ChoppedSea-Meat into the sauce and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, 4to 6 minutes. Remove from heat. Taste for salt.

Immediatelyadd the drained pasta to the sauce along with the parsley, then tossuntil combined well. Add optional pepper, if desired. Serveimmediately.

NutritionFacts
Nutrition(per serving):551.0 calories; 22% calories from fat; 14.3g total fat; 0.0mgcholesterol; 440.0mg sodium; 338.0mg potassium; 77.9g carbohydrates;3.5g fiber; 4.3g sugar; 23.8g protein; 11.5 points.

Printable Recipe
BRYANNA’SVEGAN “SEA STOCK”©2019 Bryanna Clark Grogan. All Rights Reserved.
Yield:4 cups

Thisis a handy recipe for vegan “sea-meat” recipes.

6 cupshot water
10 medium dried shiitake or Chinese black forestmushrooms
1/2 oz dried kombu seaweed
2 teaspoons lightmiso
1 1/2 teaspoons vegetarian “oyster” sauce

Simmerthe mushrooms and kombu, covered, in the water for 30 minutes. Strainin a colander. Save the mushrooms for another dish, if you like.Discard the kombu. Stir in the miso, vegetarian “oyster” sauce,and salt. Dissolve thoroughly. Strain through a fine sieve.Refrigerate.

NutritionFacts
Nutrition(per 1/2 cup): 18.6calories; 6% calories from fat; 0.2g total fat; 0.0mgcholesterol;318.5mg sodium; 75.3mg potassium; 4.3g carbohydrates; 0.6g fiber;1.5gsugar; 0.7g protein ; 0.3 points.

Thisis deliciously simple Italian way to showcase your Sea-Meat Scallops.If you want a more “fishy” flavor, add a tablespoon or so ofdulse or nori flakes to the sauce.

INGREDIENTS:

DIRECTIONS:

Placea large pot of water on to boil. When it boils, add the pasta and thethawed edamamé to the water and set the timer for 4 minutes. In abowl, mix the Seasoned Flour with the Scallops until they are allcoated.

Heatthe olive oil in a large, heavy nonstick skillet. When hot, add theScallops, green onion, and the garlic and quickly stir-fry over highheat until the Scallops are slightly seared. Add the Vegan “SeaStock”, wine, herbs and salt and pepper to taste (and the“Oyster” Sauce and seaweed flakes, if using) to the skillet.Cook briefly at high heat.

Drain the pasta and edamaméwhen done and add to the skillet. With a large spoon and a pastarake, toss the contents of the skillet while it cooks. You want thepasta to absorb most of the sauce, with just enough left so that itisn’t dry. Quickly divide the pasta evenly into 6 warm pasta bowls.Serve with salt, pepper, lemon wedges, and vegan parmesan substitute.

NutritionFacts
Nutrition(per serving): 478.0calories; 20% calories from fat; 11.2g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol;338.8mg sodium; 602.4mg potassium; 61.2g carbohydrates; 5.5g fiber;3.7g sugar; 55.7g net carbs; 25.5g protein; 9.7 points.

BRYANNA’SSEASONED FLOUR
Yield:2 1/4 cups

Havesome of this in your refrigerator at all times for costing vegetarianproteins before browning– it adds great flavor!

2cups whole wheat, or other wholegrain, flour
1/4 cup nutritionalyeast flakes
1 teaspoon salt
OPTIONAL: 1 teaspoon onionpowder, 1 teaspoon garlic granules and freshly-ground black pepper totaste. Other spices can be used, according to the type of recipe youare making.

Mixtogether the flour, nutritional yeast flakes, salt, and, optionalonion powder and black pepper, if using. Store in a covered containerin the refrigerator.

NutritionFacts

Nutrition(per 2 tablespoons):50.4 calories; 5% calories from fat; 0.3g total fat; 0.0mgcholesterol; 105.7mg sodium; 89.6mg potassium; 10.2g carbohydrates;2.1g fiber; 0.1g sugar; 8.2g net carbs; 2.7g protein; 0.6 points.

INGREDIENTS:
Lemon-Garlic“Butter” Sauce:
4teaspoons vegan butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups lightvegetarian “chicken” broth (do not use a very salty type becauseyou have to reduce it—try using 1/2 as much powder or paste as youwould normally)
2 medium organic lemons, grated zest andjuice
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with
1 tablespoonwater
OptionalFinish:
4teaspoons vegan butter
Additional:
2lbs. fresh asparagus, trimmed and steamed until tender, but notmushy
Fried“Scallops”:
32Sea-Meat Scallops(see recipe above)
wholewheat flour for dredging
1 cup plain soy, hemp, or nut milkmixed with
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 cups panko (Japanesebreadcrumb– look for Ian’s Whole Wheat Panko Breadcrumbs, if youprefer whole grain. Amazon carries them.)
oilfor frying

DIRECTIONS:
Tomake the Lemon-Garlic “Butter” Sauce: Heatthe first 4 teaspoons of vegan butter in a nonstick skillet overmedium-high heat. Add the garlic and stir with a wooden spoon JUSTuntil the garlic begins to turn golden. Add the broth and the zestand juice of the lemons. Bring to a boil over high heat.

Turndown to a high simmer and cook it down to 1 1/4 cups (important!).Stir in the cornstarch mixture and stir until thickened. Stir in theremaining 4 teaspoons of vegan butter, if using. Remove from heat andcover to keep warm.

NutritionFacts
Nutrition(per serving):321.4 calories; 14% calories from fat; 5.3g total fat; 0.0mgcholesterol; 601.4mg sodium; 741.8mg potassium; 61.0g carbohydrates;9.9g fiber; 11.7g sugar; 13.3g protein; 6.1 points.


Printable Recipe
VEGETARIAN“OYSTER” SAUCE:

Chineseoyster sauce is a favorite flavoring, thick, rich-tasting, andslightly sweet. I use the vegan version frequently to coat plain tofufor use in stir-fries and fried dishes instead of chicken, and, ofcourse, it’s essential in some Chinese dishes. As well, it can addrich flavor to homemade seitan/grain meat. If you can’t buy it,it’s easy to make a very acceptable substitute.

Youcan find commercial vegetarian versions, made with mushrooms, in someAsian groceries and large supermarkets (and online, including atamazon). Sometimes it is labeled “vegetarian oyster sauce” or“mushroom oyster sauce”. It is also marketed as “vegetarianstir-fry sauce” (Lee Kum Kee brand). It keeps for a long time inthe refrigerator. However, it can be difficult for people in someareas to find, so I am giving you a recipe for a homemade version.

NOTEON MUSHROOMS: For the dried mushrooms, you don’t need expensiveshiitakes—just use the inexpensive dried Chinese mushrooms (orChinese forest mushrooms)that are easily available. Snap off the stems and discard them, thengrind the mushrooms to a powder in a DRY, clean blender orcoffee/spice grinder.

1 1/2 cups boiling water
6tablespoons ground dried Chinese mushroom

(IMPORTANT:leave the plastic cap out of the center hole in the blender lid andcover it with a folded towel, so that the hot liquid doesn’texplode.)

Pour into in a medium saucepan and heat to boiling over high heat.Add the dissolved cornstarch and stir until thickened. Cool and storein a covered jar or bottle in the refrigerator. Since it is quitesalty and sweet, it should keep for several months.

NOTE:You can, alternatively, microwave the mixture, with the cornstarch,in a medium bowl and cook on 100% power for about 1 minute, thenwhisk. Repeat until thickened and store as above.