Jai

September 4, 2008 11:09 PM

(old?) Vancouver Buddhist-style "ketchup gluten" recipe. How do they cook the gluten with the sauce-which-isn't-a-sauce?

When I was young, my parents used to get "takeout Vegetarian" from Buddhist restaurants. Consisted of soysauce soybeans, dense sponge-like tofu (in a dark sauce), and wheat gluten ... pillows? chunks? wringled-masses. And other kinds of soy/gluten food products in a variety of flavours.

One of the flavours was/is "ketchup." The other flavours were curry (yellow) and low sui ("old[seasoned?]-water"/"not-quite-five-spice").

The local Asian-Megamart (T&T next to Tinseltown) used to have an (independent?) supplier that sold this stuff on weekends. They no longer do (although they have a self-serve bar for different vegetarian stuff).

I can get fried gluten in bulk. I can't imagine a suitable approach to try cooking it with a ketchup-like sauce to get the same effect. The end result is like industrial sweet&sour sauce that saturates the outer 1/3 of the gluten mass, then removes everything that hadn't been absorbed into the gluten mass except for a thin evenly spread hint embracing every surface area of the gluten mass.

Question 1: Recommend places with this kind of takeout (usually taken out in round aluminium pans with a foiled-cardboard top) in Vancouver*

Question2: How would I go about stewing chunks of wheat gluten (which I have several sources for) and in what mixture of seasoning to get the same kind of effect?

Thanks!

*the childhood place I remember - a hole-in-the-wall - was a block down from Pain&Wasting and the VPD; I checked recently, it's no longer there

posted by porpoise to food & drink (1 comment total)

Maybe this recipe..

hinese style vegetable stir-fry, made with a hoisin-based sauce is a quick and simple vegetarian and vegan stir-fry with a distinct Asian flavor. Though the recipe calls for seitan, you could substitute tofu with good results and vary the vegetables used as well. This stir-fry has plenty of sauce, so serve over rice or noodles.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:

* 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
* 1 tbsp sesame oil+ 2 tbsp
* 2 tbsp soy sauce + 2 tbsp
* 1 tbsp rice vinegar
* 2 tbsp sugar or liquid sweetener
* 3/4 cup vegetable broth
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
* 1 tbsp corn starch
* approx. 1 cup seitan, chopped into 1 inch pieces
* 3-4 green onions, chopped
* 1 red or yellow bell pepper
* approx 2 cups broccoli, chopped

Preparation:
In a small saucepan, whisk together hoisin sauce, 1 tbsp sesame oil, 2 tbsp soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, vegetable broth, garlic, ginger and corn starch over medium heat. Allow to simmer until mixture thickens, about 5-7 minutes, then remove from heat and set aside.

In a large wok or skillet, stir-fry seitan in 2 tbsp sesame oil and 2 tbsp soy sauce until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add onions, pepper and broccoli and stir-fry another 2-3 minutes.

Add sauce mixture to the stir-fry and combine well, allowing to cook another 2-3 minutes, until broccoli is done cooking.

and if you need more sauce here's the recipe
posted by watercarrier at 5:56 AM on September 5, 2008 [1 favorite]