So my husband, being from a small town in Pa’s Lehigh Valley, is a big fan of many traditional Pa Dutch dishes. I guess one of their big ones is pork and sauerkraut for New Year’s Day. He has been vegetarian, and now vegan, for 6 years, so has obviously not had this favorite dish in many years. Being the main cook in the house and and not from a Pa Dutch area, this was never an issue, but my husband talk about it all the time. This year we decided to try to replicate this dish in the vegan format. As a base I used Sarah Kramer’s recipe for seitan ham, which I think actually tastes quite a bit more like pork than ham. It starts with making the basic seitan recipe of one half cup each of wheat gluten flour and water. Mix the dough and knead for 5 minutes. I cut the seitan into very small pieces to replicate the fall-appart-iness of real pork. For the broth mix 2 cups water, 1/4 cup tamari, 2 tsp vegan worcestershire, 1 tsp liquid smoke, 2 tbsp nutritional yeast, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp oregano, 2 tsp mustard seed and 1/4 tsp sage. This is Sarah Kramer’s seitan ham recipe. Bring the broth to a boil in a stock pot, then add the seitan. Reduce heat and simmer for about an hour, but stir every ten minutes. You know the seitan is ready when the broth is almost completely evaporated. At this point add the sauerkraut. I added a little less than a bag, but add what you think looks best. Next I simmered uncovered for about 30 minutes. I would say that on it’s own it can serve about 2 or three, so you might want to double, triple or otherwise multiply the recipe, depending on how many guests you are serving. You can also include applesauce, halushki or something involving hot fakin dressing. You could probably strech it a little further, but this recipe is good as it is, so expect to to serve plenty of seconds!
Pennsylvegan 