I have to give Kyle the credit for the Chicken ‘n Waffles idea. I’ve not had much southern cooking in my life, nor have I - I think ever - fried something. All reasons to go big for December. 

I searched online for fried seitan recipes. Nothing sounded exactly right, so I kind of made it up as I went along. Although, what really helped make it was the delicious seitan we ordered from Candle 79. HUGE thanks to Kyle for facilitating that. And to Kyle and Jill for the frying tips - I might have made some pretty soggy seitan if it weren’t for them :)

In the end, it came out delicious! Even the meat-eaters agreed. And it’s so easy! These are approximate measurements, though we made a more than double batch for the group, this is a more manageable recipe.

ingredients

• 4 seitan cutles
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 1/2 T cornstarch
• 1/2 T chickpea flour
• 1/2 cup unbleached flour
• 2 C breadcrumbs (I used a combination of Panko Japanese-style crumbs and plain breadcrumbs*)
• 1/3 C nutritional yeast
• 1 T garlic powder
• 1/2 T paprika
• 1/2 T oregano
• 1 t onion powder
• 1 t cayenne pepper
• 1 t salt
• oil for frying

instrux

1. Slice up the seitan.
2. In a pan mix the soy milk with the cornstarch and chickpea flour (apparently this is called a slurry)
3. In another deep pan or bowl, mix the bread crumbs, flour, nutritional yeast, and spices (and any other spice you want to add!)
4. Dip the seitan in the slurry, then in the breadcrumb mix. I ended up going back and double-dipping into the slurry then back into the crumbs to get them to stick. 
5. On another plate, use your hands to press the breadcrumbs into the seitan, then set on a pan. Rika recommends putting flour on your fingers to help prevent the crumbs from sticking (though we’re not sure how well this worked).
6. Put a pan on the stove and cover the bottom with oil. Heat up until it is frying-ready - the seitan should sizzle when it hits it. 
7. The seitan should take 3-5 minutes on each side, until the breading is golden brown. 
8. Lay out on a brown paper bag to help sop up the oil, then serve!

SERVES: 4
CREDIT: Meghan Louttit, with influence from Get Sconed!, Vegan Appetite and About.com.

*I found through this experiment that plain breadcrumbs are difficult to find. You can buy breadcrumb mixes in grocery stores, but they tend to have dairy in them, and more than a few chemical-sounding ingredients. I had leftover breadcrumbs from a stuffing I made, which I think I bought at Trader Joe’s. But the Panko Japanese-style crumbs are easy to find, and have a cool texture. It’s all about the mixing and matching!