Seitan

I know this has been touched on in other posts, but I'm having a hard time finding seitan here.   DH and I have pretty much stopped eating meat and I'm trying to find other protein sources that don't involve soy or quorn, which means I'm looking at beans and wheat. I can get mock duck, but I want it for things that the soy flavour won't work in.

I've tried my local health food stores, but the only one that knew what I was talking about said they no longer sell it because no one would buy it (they do sell tempeh, so I can't imagine the market isn't there)

Does anyone have any suggestions?

I'm not opposed to making it, but I haven't found a non-squeaky recipe, so if anyone has a non-squeaky seitan recipe please share!

Thanks!

The only place I have seen Seitan in the UK is in a tin of vegetarian Lo Han Chai at the Chinese supermarket...

However, I just googled Seitan in the UK and came up with a few resources. It seems like Chinese Supermarkets might be your best bet.

Thanks racheeeee, I was hoping someone would say Costco has it lol.

The tinned stuff tends to be somewhat soy flavoured and I'm hoping to use it in some enchiladas and don't think that it will work.

Can you get your hands on wheat gluten/gluten flour? I know some recipes start from regular flour but honestly, they sound like an absolute b-i-t-c-h to make. I've made seitan with variable levels of success with wheat gluten, which I usually order in 4-bag bulk for fairly cheap from amazon (Bob's Red Mill). I don't know what's available in the UK, though. Also, get your hands on Veganomicon/Vegan with a Vengence/the rest of Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero's books. They're generally excellent and have all kinds of protein alternatives. The black bean burgers from Veganomicon are a staple for me, they contain both black beans and some wheat gluten and hold together exceptionally well. I've also made these seitan ribz from fat free vegan: http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/05/barbecued-seitan-ribz.html and they were pretty good.
But seriously, Veganomicon. I've even un-veganized (I'm a vegetarian who avoids excess dairy and eggs but I like my real cheese) some recipes and they were still really good.

There are online shops where you can order vital wheat gluten, but I've yet to see it in a shop (although I haven't checked Whole Foods yet).  Unfortunately, Mr A takes forever to warm up to the idea of spending money online.  I am looking for seitan/vwg and a good source of nutritional yeast.  I asked at H&B, and the shop assistant had no clue what I was talking about. I am going to Vx in the next few weeks as well as a bulk food shop near here.  I will let you know if I see any. [ETA: Yes, you can make VWG yourself, but I really hate the feeling of gluten.  So much so, that it took years for me to get used to making homemade bread.  But if you get strong flour, you can just mix it with water, let the gluten develop, knead a bit, then rinse until you have the basic ingredient for seitan.]

I don't consider myself vegan, but I am doing a sort of strict vegetarian experiment for a month or two.  I too don't eat much soy (and never in the quantities needed to satisfy any protein requirements) and rarely eat Quorn ATM.  I've been eating a lot of nuts, beans, and seeds, but I am also disappointed in the non-soy choices for protein.  The only almond milk I can find is £3.55 a litre.    I will let you know if I find anything.

ETA: Also, have you considered quinoa for a protein source?  It can run a bit expensive, but some is cheaper.  We had a small box of the no-soak kind, and it lasted the two of us for about 5 meals.

Also, I emailed Tesco to get a list of their current vegan products, and they sent me a pdf.  Most of their own brand frozen vegetarian burgers are vegan.  I totally recommend their bean one.  The non-soy vegan protein problem is one of the reasons I can't make this experiment totally vegan as I occassionally have Quorn because just eating beans, lentils, and nuts isn't really realistic. 

http://www.veggiestuff.com/acatalog/viana_seitan.html