I’m not a vegetarian but I love mock duck.
Mock duck, also known as seitan, is a vegetarian product made from wheat gluten, meaning it’s not a good option for those with gluten allergies. I like mock duck’s chewy texture because resembles meat more so than other other meat-substitutes. Mock dock is often located in the refrigerated section of grocery stores and or sold by the can in Asian grocery stores. I remember enjoying my first tastes of mock duck in Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches at Jasmine Deli, a restaurant located along Eat Street in Minneapolis, MN. Three dollars never tasted so good.
This afternoon, I found mock duck in Sidney’s refrigerated case for about $3.69 per package. It’s cut into small pieces and ready to eat, but the package only contains a cup’s worth. Instead, I bought this bag of wheat gluten flour and decided to make my own. Although this bag cost a little over $7, it actually makes about three times more mock duck for the price of the packaged version when compared ounce for ounce. If you have some extra time, it’s really easy to make at home. I mostly followed the package’s instructions and adjusted a few elements.
Ingredients:
2 cups wheat gluten
2 cups boiling water
Garlic salt, about 1 teaspoon
A pinch of dried marjoram
A pinch of dried sage
9 cups of water
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons molasses (could also use honey)
A few thick slices of of fresh ginger, washed and skinned
Instructions:
To prepare the cooking liquid, bring 9 cups of water, soy sauce, molasses and ginger to a simmer.
In a large bowl, stir together the wheat gluten and boiling water. It’s texture will be damp and spongy. Set the mixture aside until it’s cool enough to handle.
Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes to further develop the chewy texture.
Divide the dough in smaller pieces, and cut into slices. Drop into the simmering liquid. Stir and simmer for an hour.
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| You can just make out the steam rising from the pot. |
The mock duck will absorb the liquid’s flavor and become chewier. The slices of mock duck will greatly expand in size.
Remove the mock duck and drain in a strainer. Place a heavy object on top of the mock duck to remove extra liquid or wait until it cools and press it with your hands. Now it’s ready to use. You can also use the mock duck to replace the meat in stir-fries, salads, or sloppy joes. Extra mock duck can be frozen for later use.
THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH for this wonderful Mock duck post!
The Real Person!
I’m happy you liked it!
Just made it today! I plan on using it in “korean bbq” and mock duck mole tacos! Thanks for sharing 🙂
The Real Person!
I’m happy to hear it worked out well. I love your ideas for using the mock duck. Will have to give those a try.
Hi, this recipe did not work at all. Its pretty obvious that the flour-water ratio is off by quite a bit. As in, more flour than water is needed, it DEFINITELY should not be equal. Also, wheat gluten isn’t exactly cheap, so this was a pretty big disappointment. Yes, I followed the recipe exactly.
The Real Person!
Hi Fiona,
I am so sorry it did not work for you. I appreciate that you let me know.
You can use normal flour to make seitan just mix it with enough water to make a dough knead it for 15 mins ( I just leave the food processor on) then cover it in water for 20 mins so that the starch turns the water white. Then put the dough in a colander and rinse until there is no more white and you are left with the gluten. This is your seitan and you simply simmer it in water with the molasses, soy sauce and ginger mixture until it has completely reduced. Voila.
The Real Person!
Thanks for sharing how easy it is to make it from regular flour at home:)
You did something wrong
I just received vegetarian chicken powder, can I use this instead of the other seasonings to make mock duck?
The Real Person!
Jean, I have never cooked with vegetarian chicken powder before! My guess is that it could add some nice flavor to the mock duck. Unsure about the amount.
Hi Jeni
I followed your recipe it came out looking perfect and turned into a nice dough, I added dried parley and chives to my gluten flour, also some sesame oil, and a dried vegetable seasoning. Right at this moment it is in the pot cooking on a low simmer.
I am trying Seitan to better control my diabetes as the blood sugar goes up when I eat meat or a bit too much meat. I love my vegies and cannot get enough, so I thought I would give this a try. Thanks for the great explanations, but I do have one question, instead of boiling steaming or baking the Seitan can I slice it and fry it in a frying pan or does it need to be pre cooked?
Thank you for ever thing, I will let you know how it turned out.
I didn’t use the Seitan that night as it was late, so I put it in a container with stock for the next day.
The next day I squeezed excess liquid out of which there wasn’t too much, and pan fried it with a small amount of seasoning, I was surprised to find that it tasted like mild chicken and very nice. I was very happy with that. The texture and mouthfeel was spongy and somewhat soft but not unacceptable. I would like to try steaming, do I have to cut that up as well or leave it in one piece?
I cannot bake it as my oven does not work I have a convection oven that has a fan and an element in the lid, sooks basically cooks with hot air, I feel it would dry the Seitan out terribly. Does anyone have other suggestions?
Hugs to all and many thanks again.
The Real Person!
I am so sorry I missed your last comment! Thanks for sharing how you made it. The addition of herbs sounds wonderful. I am not sure about cooking the dough other ways besides boiling, first. I would think steaming would work.
Oh MAN!!! It’s going to get really REAL up in my kitchen this weekend. I have not, for the life of me, been able to find Mock Duck anywhere. So, this is awesome and I deeply appreciate your post.
I also see that you’re in Minneapolis (I’m in the area), and your page header has a bottle of 소주. NICE!
See ya around town!!!
Hi Jeni, thanks! Is it straight guten (v fine powder) or gluten flour? Plain gluten is very expensive here which makes me think I may have purchased the incorrect ingredient.
Can’t wait to make it, and eat it!
Thanks so much
Margo
Hello!
This recipe looks very interesting, but could you please post a photo of the finished product so we can see what it’s supposed to look like?
Thank you!
The Real Person!
Thanks! I can’t find my photos of it! This image looks like what I made. http://www.thatwasvegan.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/seitan1.jpg
Hi Jeni, I am brand new to vegetarian or vegan eating AND cooking and I bought a bag of flaxmeal to make flax eggs for vegan meatballs. Do you know if the flaxmeal will work for this recipe? Thanks for any tips.
The Real Person!
Hi Josiah, I have actually never cooked or baked with flax meal before. I’m not sure what type of texture it will have. Sorry I can’t help more and best wishes with your meal:)
Jeni
Hi Josiah,
If you want to use the Flaxseed Meal for an egg substitute then try this
1 tablespoon Flaxseed Meal also called Flaxmeal
2 1/2 tablespoons water
Mix the two together and let sit for 5 minutes, so it can thicken up, use it then for what ever you want to replace eggs. This is for one egg if I remember right, I got this from a vegan blog. I hope it helps.
Hugs Karin
Thanks Karin, I’ve already done that flax egg a couple times, I was wondering what the end result would be if I used flaxmeal instead of the wheat gluten for this Mock Duck recipe. Any thoughts?
I don’t think you could completely replace the gluten to make the mock duck as the flax meal is high in fats and oils, too much can have a laxative effect. You could make it an additive with wheat gluten, I love doing this, mixing in any of the following chick pea flour, cornflour, rice flours, oatmeal and others. I hope this helps a little.
Take care
The Real Person!
Thanks Karin for your expertise!
I make “flax egg” and use ground flax seed. I make it myself in a coffee grinder from whole live flax. I am cruios to try making mock duck with flax also. I can tell you thought that thwere is no rinsing needed. Not sure it would make a solid like wheat gluten does when boiled. I will google it and see what others suggest.
Sorry for the typos. I cal correct them. Here. I make “flax egg” and use ground flax seed. I make it myself in a coffee grinder or NutraBullet from whole live flax. I am curios to try making mock duck with flax also. I can tell you though that there is no rinsing needed. Not sure it would make a solid like wheat gluten does when boiled. I will google it and see what others suggest.
Bought some wheat gluten. I have the mixture resting right now and… on a whim threw in 2 dashes of bitters. Somewhere deep in my memory I remember hearing something about adding that to meatless dishes… I will report my findings.
The Real Person!
That sounds like a good idea!
Ok Jeni,
First it sounds like we live in the same lovely city! I crashed my bike on the ice today though so it’s not lovely everywhere, walking on the sidewalks was just as perilous. On to the Mock Duck! I’ve made this recipe twice now and each time it gets better, but so far the final texture is closer to I’d say breakfast sausage. Chewy but not like mock duck. To make sure my mock duck is wrong, lastnight I ordered spicy mock duck from Asian Taste (I love that place 14th and Nicollet) and it was definitely closer to pullable chicken ya know? So I’m wondering what my mistakes are. I saw a comment about the water to gluten ratio being off. Is that something I should play with? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am loving meat free life and Mock Duck has been a good part of it.
The Real Person!
I’m so sorry you crashed your bike. The weather is nuts. I will have to check out Asian taste. I’m not sure how they get it to be the texture of pullable chicken. Mine was more chewy spongey. I wonder if kneading it helps?
I read and found out the more you work it the tougher it will be. But the Water Ratio has got me thinking, I might play with my Seitan recipe a bit but today its too hot its 112F today. Time for some ice and water.
Hi Jeni,
I’m really looking forward to making this. I may have missed it but does the marjoram, sage and garlic salt go in the cooking liquid or in the gluten mixture?
Thanks!
The Real Person!
Sorry about that! It goes into the gluten mixture.
3rd time is the charm, Jeni! Haha. My addition of 1 dash of bitters may or may not have been that great, I can’t really say cause I’ve only tried it with the bitters. My tips would be these. Knead it enough to shape it into a large solid but very gelatinous mound. I was able to do it so when I sliced it there were a few slices that looked like a solid slice of pork or something steak like. Also, if you have a tablespoon of flaxmeal definitley add it in the gluten mixture before adding the water. I added this Mock Duck to vegan curry I made. I will definitely make it again.
The Real Person!
Woohoo!!! Thanks for sharing your tips with us. The curry sounds delicious.
So the ratio of water to gluten four was correct after all and just needed more kneading? I like your addition of flaxmeal to bind things together a bit more. Also, one more question, did this make it more like pullable chicken?
I’m wondering how many “servings” you would consider this recipe makes, so that I can figure out the calories/Weight Watchers Smart Points.
The Real Person!
I’m sorry I can’t remember exactly. I remember having quite a bit and freezing a lot for later.