Sesame-Crusted Seitan with Red Wine-Soy Braised Vegetables and Crispy Udon Noodle Cakes

Hello Darlings,

Sorry I haven't posted in a while!  I hope that the recipe I am posting today makes it worth the wait.  I had two lovely girlfriends over for dinner last week and dreamt up this dish.  I had all the ingredients for stir fry but I find that stir fry can be so booooorrrrring!!!  So this is stir fry my way.  No more saucey piles of whatever you have in the fridge atop rice, people! 

Sesame-Crusted Seitan with Red Wine-Soy Braised Vegetables and Crispy Udon Noodle Cakes
serves 4
Ingredients:
sesame seitan:
-3 seitan cutlets (about 1 1/2 lbs)
-1 clove garlic, minced
-2 tsp fresh grated ginger
-4 tbsp sweet chili sauce
-4 tbsp shoyu
-1/3 cup water
-sriracha hot sauce (to your liking)
-pinch S and lots of fresh ground P
-1/3 cup whole wheat flour
-2 tbsp sesame seeds
braised veg:
-4 to 6 cups of your favorite chopped veg (I used purple cabbage, onion, garlic, mushrooms, bell peppers and cucumbers)
-1/3 cup red wine
-2 tbsp shoyu
-fresh ground P
udon noodle cakes:
-2 packages of udon noodles

SEITAN: Whisk together the garlic, ginger, chili sauce, shoyu, water, hot sauce and S&P.  Cut the seitan into bite sized chunks and marinate in the sauce for at least an hour.  Toss together the flour and sesame seeds and add the drained seitan (reserve the marinade).  Add a tablespoon of the marinade to the flour/sesame/seitan mixture and ensure that each little seitan chunk is well coated with flour/sesame seeds.  Heat a few tbsp of oil in a skillet over medium heat and fry the seitan until golden on all sides.

VEG:  Heat a few tsp of veg oil in a skillet and saute veg until tender crisp.  Add wine and shoyu and cook until absorbed.  Season with pepper!

NOODLE CAKES: Carefully remove the noodles from the package and slice them in half into triangles.  Heat 3 tbsp veg oil in a pan and saute until golden on each side.  You can keep them warm in an oven set to low heat.

TO ASSEMBLE:  Place a noodle cake on each plate and top with the braised veg followed by the seitan.  Pour the reserved marinade into a hot skillet and reduce by half.  You can add a splash of red wine too!  Pour the sauce over the seitan and serve with some steamed baby bok choy!

Until next time,
XOXO V.V.