Post by @wendythefoodscientist

This is what happens when you wash flour. By @wendythefoodscientist Flour is about 70% starch and 10 to 14% protein. Washing separates the two. Knead flour and water into a dough. There's just enough water to hydrate everything, not enough to move anything around. The proteins link into a stretchy network — that's gluten — with the starch granules trapped inside it. Then wash the dough ball in water. Now there's enough water to carry things off. The starch granules are small and separate, so they wash away. The gluten can't, because it's one connected mass. The water goes milky white. That's the starch leaving. It doesn't dissolve, it's carried out as a cloud. If you let that water sit for a few hours, the starch settles at the bottom. This is how you separate starch. Keep going until it runs clearer. What's left in your hands is stretchy, elastic, and almost pure plant protein. That's seitan. Chinese Buddhist monks were making it fifteen centuries ago. From here it becomes whatever you shape it into. You can turn this seitan into chicken shreds, beef slices, minced meat, or even meatballs and deli-slices. Flour is mostly starch and protein. Wash it and you get both, separately. 1 kg / 2.2 lb of flour holds at least 100 g / 3.5 oz of protein. This technique is part of my Seitan Masterclass: 9 plant meats, 2 methods. Link in bio for the video course, or try my free recipe first also on my website. #seitan#seitanrecipes