Vegan Hot Wing Love

Wing night! 

Ok, so we've been making vegan wings for about five years now, and our recipe has gone through so many iterations, we're almost ready for a new recipe journal. I'd be remiss here if I didn't give credit here to VeganDad as our recipe is still to a large extent just a minor twist off his. Notwithstanding, we went through countless subsequent trials and errors before ultimately returning to his very simple ingredient list with some jazzed up, lessons learned additions. 

Now, just like tofurkey, and chicken cheese steaks, beef lo mein, and sausage (all to be posted in good time), there are some veganized meals that require pretty substantial disclaimers. Wings might just be atop that list for no other reason than hot wings carry something of a cult-like following. Carnivores who love their hot wings really love their hot wings. And there's different styles. There's the "sloppy greasy", the "crunchy fried", the "naked". So let's just get something straight here before we get started,...these are vegan. There's no bone. There's no chicken fat. There's no slimy skin. It's wheat gluten. It's our best effort. My advice: as best as you can, don't go into it expecting a "holy s%*t, that tastes just like a wing!", go into expecting a "holy s%*t, that's a damn good alternative to me eating baby chickens". And besides, it's all in the sauce. 

Onward and upward...the basic idea with the wings is to make a glutenous dough, break it apart into wing sized shapes, and coat with sauce. The most important part is the dough (a basic seitan). 

Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 c. vital wheat gluten (we prefer Arrowhead Mills or Bob's)
- 2 tsp. paprika
- 2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 1 tsp. chicken seasoning
- 1/2 tsp. nutritional yeast

- 4 cups veggie broth 
- 2 cups water
- 1 piece nori or kombu
- 1 large portobello cap (cut/broken into 1 in. chunks)
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tbsp. vegan worcestshire sauce
- 1 tbsp. Bragg's amino's (alt. Tamari)
- 2 cups soy milk/egg replacer
- chicken bread crumb mix (we use a mixture of corn meal, flour, bread crumbs, and flax meal, but any similar chicken coating will work)

Method:
1. In a food processor, add portobello with 2 cups veg broth, and remaining wet ingredients.
2. In a separate large bowl, mix all dry ingredients
3. Add liquid from food processor to the dry mix and stir until all dry ingredients are absorbed, then remove wet dough and knead by hand. 
Note: Gluten is what makes dough stretchy and what, literally, holds or binds baked goods together. To obtain the best dough you can, it's really important to knead your dough well. As you begin, the dough should be wet to touch, but still binding. As you progress, you should notice am increasingly stringy and elastic texture. When the dough becomes difficult to knead without bouncing back, it's done. 
4. Form your dough into a log that is roughly 2-3 inches in diameter and let it sit.
5. In a large crock pot, add the remaining 2 cups of veg broth, and an additional two cups of water and bring to a medium heat.
6. If using kombu, add to broth. If using nori, cut into strips about 2 inches wide and add to broth.
7. Cut the seitan log into 1 inch thick sections/discs.
8. Place seitan chunks in broth, bring to a boil from medium heat, and then reduce to a simmer. Cover, and let simmer for one hour. 
9. Remove from heat and let cool. When cool, break seitan sections into smaller pieces trying to shape as desired. This is where you can try and break pieces of the dough, and form them into wing shapes. 
10. After all seitan has been broken apart, line pan or plate with one layer of paper towels, and cover with "naked" wings. Then place paper towels over top, and another layer of wings, and so on, until all wings are covered.
11. Refrigerate for at least one hour (the longer they remain refrigerated the better, and more firm, your final wing will be. Overnight is ideal)
12. Preheat oven to 375.
13. Remove from refrigerator, coat in soy milk/egg replacer, and toss in breading/flour mixture.
14. Bake for ten minutes, flip and bake other side for ten minutes. While these are cooking, you can make your wing sauce. We make a simple sauce of equal parts melted butter and base cayenne hot sauce (Louisiana, Frank's, etc.), with 2 tbsp vinegar and 1 tbsp ketchup per every 1 cup butter/sauce (this is VeganDad's creation with the added tbsp. of vinegar for some extra umph!)
15. Remove from oven and toss with sauce.

Serve appropriately (blue cheese, celery, ranch, etc.) and enjoy with LOVE!