Wings of Satan (aka boneless seitan "wings")

When it comes to a plant based diet, many of often miss the traditional comfort woods we used to eat, like boneless buffalo wings, and wish we could enjoy the taste without harming animals. If you feel this way too then you should definitely try this vegan alternative to chicken wings; packed with protein from the vital wheat gluten in homemade seitan. This recipe takes a little time as there are multiple steps but if you have a potluck coming up, are having people over for a football game or just want to impress your friends with tasty "vegan" food this recipe is well worth the effort! I made a huge batch of these for a vegan potluck and made half buffalo and half Korean BBQ and they were a HUGE hit! Recipe is taken from the book "Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Food" by Kristy Simpson. Enjoy :)


Picture shows this recipe x 4 to accommodate a large crowd!
Ingredients:

"Chik'n seitan" 

1/2 cup vitan wheat gluten
1/4 cup soy flour (you can substitute with other flours if needed, I used whole wheat instead but some other spices or nutritional yeast may need to be added to the batter to give it more flavor)
1/2 cup water

Broth:
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons bragg's liquid aminos or soy sauce
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 heaping teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Ingredients for wings:
1 batch of "chik'n seitan" already made
canola or peanut oil
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup plain non-dairy milk

Options for sauce:

store-bought buffalo sauce (make sure it's vegan)
homemade buffalo sauce (mix together 1/2 cup hot sauce + 1 tablespoon maple syrup + 1 tablespoon vegan Worcestershire sauce)
BBQ sauce (I used a killer Korean BBQ sauce store bought from Aldi!)


Directions for making the seitan:

Mix seitan ingredients together by hand or in a mixer (dry ingredients first, and then add water) until it forms a ball. You may add additional herbs or spices into the dough if you want a little added flavor to your seitan. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for about a minute and flatten to be 1/2 thick. Cut the dough up into small nuggets or bites, keeping in mind that when cooked the seitan will double in size. I roll the small pieces into a rounded chunk, roughly half the size of a chicken wing. You can make strips, breasts or other styled seitan just by changing the shape you make it into before you cook it.

Combine broth ingredients into a medium stockpot and bring to a boil. Add the seitan one piece at a time and be careful not to splash the hot broth. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 40-50 minutes until most of the broth has evaporated, stirring every 10 minutes or so. Keep an eye out because the smaller your pieces are the quicker they will cook.

Directions for making the wings:

Once your seitan pieces are done cooking, you are ready to prepare your wings! Heat the oil in a large frying pan or deep fryer to 375 degrees. In a bowl, combine the flours, paprika, cayenne and black pepper with the milk. Dredge each piece of seitan into this batter mixture until fully coated. Fry until brown on both sides. Remove from the oil and place on a plate covered with paper towels to absorb the excess oil. Repeat with the rest of your seitan until you have coated every piece.

Allow your seitan to cool first, and then toss in a large bowl with sauce of your choice. You can even divide up the batch and mix and match different sauces on them. I've found that spicy buffalo sauce and BBQ sauce are both very popular!