Lemongrass-Seitan Sandwich

Happy Word Vegetarian Day and first day of Vegan Mo-Fo, everybody!

I’ve written before about trips to The Cinnamon Snail when it’s in Red Bank, NJ. Vegan boyfriend loves their sandwiches, and asked if I could re-create one. We tried it a few weeks ago, and then he declared that we needed to have an all-sandwich day, featuring that one- so, today we are. We just had it for lunch a little while ago, and we’ll be having it for dinner, as well.

This sandwich is inspired by the Lemongrass Five Spice Seitan Sandwich.

Seitan, wasabi mayo and arugula on toasted French bread.

I’m a little afraid of the pink peppercorns that are used in five spice blends, so instead, I used white peppercorns and crushed red pepper. I’m not a huge fan of fennel, so I leave that one out.

I don’t have a recipe per se, but a method.

The bread is half of a demi-baguette from Trader Joe’s. Wasabi mayo is simply Veganaise mixed with wasabi to taste. I leave off the curried cashews (though I did try them once and they were good). The only real trick is the seitan.

You can do one of two ways:

1. Make your own seitan: use your favorite seitan recipe, and add sliced stalks of lemongrass (part with purple only) and toasted five spices (see below) to the cooking broth or:
2. Using your favorite store bought seitan, lay it in a pan and cover with some soy sauce and water, along with the lemongrass and five spices (see below) and bring to a simmer for a few minutes.

In both cases, you’ll want to sear the seitan in a pan just before you’re ready to put together the sandwich.

For the (sort of) five spice blend, you’ll need the following:

• 1 star anise
• 2-3 whole cloves
• a small stick of cinnamon, broken
• a few white peppercorns (black is okay too)
• a pinch of crushed red pepper

Then all you have to do is throw them in a hot dry skillet, toast them for a couple of minutes (they’ll start to smell good), and then crush them in a mortar with pestle. Then use as above!

It’s a really nice sandwich to have and impressive to any guests who like sandwiches!

Let the Mo-Fo-ing begin!

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And stay tuned for a cookbook giveaway starting during the week!