Mongolian Seitan

Ingredients

Sauce

2 tsp. olive oil

½ tsp. grated ginger

3 cloves garlic minced

⅓ tsp. Chinese five spice

⅓ tsp. red pepper flakes

½ cup (120ml) tamari

½ cup (100g) + 2 tbsp. coconut sugar

2 tsp. cornstarch

2 tbsp. cold water

Seitan

1½ tbsp. olive oil

1 lb. (450g) seitan, cut into 1-inch pieces

Serving

1 tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

3 spring onions, sliced

3 cups cooked rice

1 broccoli, florets, steamed

recipe

Make the sauce by heating the olive oil in a small pot over a medium heat, add the ginger and garlic, stirring constantly. Then add the Chinese five spice and red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant.

Add the tamari and coconut sugar to the pot and stir well. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and let the sauce simmer gently until the coconut sugar has dissolved and the sauce is slightly reduced, roughly 5-7 minutes. Continue to stir the sauce occasionally to stop it from sticking.

Whisk together the cornstarch and cold water, then add it to the sauce and stir through. Cook for a further 2-3 minutes, until the sauce has thickened slightly. Then reduce the heat to the lowest setting and simmer until ready to add to the seitan.

To cook the seitan, heat the olive oil in a skillet over a medium-high heat. Add the seitan and cook, stirring frequently, for 4-5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and add the sauce, stirring to coat all of the seitan pieces in the sauce.

Remove the skillet from the heat. Serve the seitan hot with rice and steamed broccoli. Garnish with sesame seeds and spring onions.