Southern Fried Chickn’
The secret to good Southern Fried Chickn’ is the crust. None of that soft, mushy, flabby stuff. You’ve got to have crunch! And, this Southern Fried Chickn’ has it in spades! It was inspired from years of watching some of the best Southern cooks around. And then tweaked, updated and veganized…but, keeping all that delicious crunch and flavor.
So, bring on the waffles (or some fluffy biscuits if you prefer), pour on the syrup and enjoy!
Ingredients
The Chickn’ Seitan:
- 2 cups vital wheat gluten flour
- 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/3 cup chickpea flour
- 2 tbsp onion powder
- 2 tbsp garlic powder
- 1½ tsp ground cumin
- 3/4 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- ½ tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp poultry seasoning or dried sage
- 1 1/2 cup vegetable broth (preferably homemade but, as always, use what you have)
- 2 tbl olive oil
- 1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
- 2 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce (optional, but I think it brings a little “something, something” to the party)
- Aluminum foil
- High smoke point cooking oil such as peanut, grape seed or canola oil
The Liquid Dip:
- 1 plant-based egg (flax egg or your favorite commercial egg replacer)
- 12 oz unsweetened soy creamer
- 1/4 cup sparkling water
- 1/4 cup beer (brand doesn’t matter…just use whatever you have on hand)
- 2 teaspoons Creole seasoning salt (more to taste)
- 3 Tablespoons Deli or spicy brown mustard
- ½ cup hot sauce
The Flour Dip:
- 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon Creole seasoning salt (I generally use Tony Cachere’s Brand)
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
Instructions
Make your Seitan Chickn’ Pieces:
- Whisk together broth, olive oil, tamari and vegan Worcestershire sauce and set aside.
- In a large bowl stir together: vital wheat gluten flour, nutritional yeast, chickpea flour, onion powder, garlic powder, ground cumin, salt, pepper, chili powder, paprika, poultry seasoning or dried sage.
- Once they’re completely combined, create a well in the center, then pour in the broth mix, a little at a time.
- Stir with a rubber spatula until the entire mixture pulls away from the sides of the bowl. By adding just a bit of the broth mixture at a time, this prevents getting your dough too wet.
- Once the entire mixture has pulled away from the sides of the bowl, begin kneading your dough. Knead the dough for 4-5 minutes. As you knead the dough to develop the gluten, you will see a change in the consistency of the dough.
- Let it the dough rest for about 10 minutes. Then, knead for another 30 -40 seconds. Move the dough to a lightly floured cutting board.
- Now, divide the dough into four equal sized loaf shapes.
- Place each piece of seitan dough into the center of a 6 inch wide piece of aluminum foil. Loosely wrap each piece but make sure that the foil edges are tightly sealed. Loosely wrapping allows for expansion of your seitan during steaming. Make sure that each loaf is completely covered, yet has room to expand.
- Place about 1 inch of water into a covered steamer or a pot fitted with a metal colander, steam the loaves for 30 – 35 minutes. It’s important to make sure the water level is lower than the loaves themselves. You really don’t want soggy water-logged seitan.
- After steaming, remove and let cool for 30 minutes. For best results, put seitan logs into the fridge for at least an hour before slicing the loaves for making into fried chicken pieces.
Mix Your Flour Dip Ingredients Component:
- In a medium bowl, blend flour ingredients together thoroughly and set aside.
Mix Your Liquid Dip Ingredients Component:
- Blend liquid dip ingredients together and sit next to the flour mixture.
Bringing it all Together–Making Southern Fried Chickn’!
- Place 1-2 cooling racks on top of cookie sheets, and sit it near your work area on the counter.
- Take one piece of the chicken style seitan and place it in the liquid dip. Remove quickly and shake off excess.
- Immediately roll in the flour dip, coating all sides lightly. Place on cooling rack.
- Repeat with each piece of seitan chicken, being sure to leave enough room on the cooling rack so that the seitan has air circulating on all sides. Leave for 30-45 minutes for coating to “set”.
- Repeat the process again, and leave out to dry for another 30-45 minutes or longer.
- Heat your cooking oil to 350 degrees in a heavy-bottomed pot or frying pan.
- When your oil is hot, drop in one or more pieces of chicken, being sure not to crowd the pan which will lower the temperature of the oil and result in a soggy product.
- Remember, this is not flesh so there is no lengthy frying time required to cook anything – all you’re doing is developing a crispy brown coating for your seitan. (Should take about 3 minutes per side)
- When it’s brown and crisp on one side, flip seitan over and brown the second side. Remove to a rack to drain while you fry the remaining portion.
- Serve immediately with your favorite sides and more hot sauce.
Notes
- Makes 4 loaves, each of which makes about 2 servings. Wrapped tightly, it’ll last in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Freeze it, and it’ll last for months.
- Please don’t try my steaming-in-the-colander method unless your colander is metal! I prefer to use a small pot rather than a frying pan, because #1 it saves oil, #2 the oil stays hotter and produces a crisper fry, and #3 I don’t get much hot grease splash-back. Use an electric frying pan or a temperature gauge to accurately measure the heat of your cooking oil.