Vegan Mofo #16: Seitan a l’Orange...

I’ve never had Duck a l’Orange before, because I never liked duck, but there was something really intriguing to me about trying to veganize this recipe. I thought it might work out well with seitan in place of duck and since I had some ‘duck’ style seitan left over from making the Duck with Raspberries I thought I’d give it a try. I have to admit I was really skeptical about it, because I had to really play around with the cooking method and times, and I wasn’t at all sure it was going to be any good, but much to my surprise it turned out really, really well. The sauce is so flavorful and on a nice juicy piece of seitan it works so well. Though I imagine the sauce would also be a nice accompaniment to tofu or tempeh as well.

Certainly there is a bit of work involved in a recipe like this, but that’s French cooking for you right? The end result is worth it, so I hope you give it a try. Enjoy your seitan a l’Orange with some simple sides like rice and broccoli as we did, or potatoes and asparagus.

Seitan a l’Orange 
(AKA Canard a l’Orange, AKA ‘Duck’ a l’Orange, ) 

2-4 Homemade or store bought Chicken Style Seitan Cutlets
5 Large Oranges
2 Cinnamon Sticks
1-2 Tbsp Minced Fresh Mint Leaves
½ Cup Brown Sugar
½ Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/3 Cup Grand Marnier
4 Tbsp of Nondairy Butter + 1 Tbsp
1 Tbsp Cornstarch


- Preheat the oven to 300'F

- Grease a glass baking dish that’s large enough to hold your seitan. Slice two of the oranges into thin slices. Line the bottom of the glass dish with the slices from one orange. Place the cinnamon sticks over top of the oranges and sprinkle with mint. Layer your seitan cutlets over top, and then top those with the remaining orange slices.

- Roast in the Oven for roughly 30 minutes.

- Meanwhile zest and juice the remaining 3 oranges.  Heat a small pot of water over high heat. When it’s boiling blanch the orange zest Refresh under cold water, drain, and set aside.

- Heat the sugar in a saucepan over low heat until it melts and caramelizes, use a whisk to whisk the sugar a bit so that it caramelizes evenly. When the sugar is a rich brown add in the vinegar, but be carefully as it might splatter.  Boil for three minutes then add the reserved orange juice and grand Marnier. Simmer the mixture for 2 minutes.

- Remove the seitan from the oven, and pour a third of the sauce over the cutlets. If using 2 cutlets place 2 Tbsp of Butter on each Cutlet, if using 4 Cutlets place 1 Tbsp on each cutlet. Then Sprinkle the cutlets with about a quarter of the orange zest. Place back into the oven and roast for another 30 minutes.

- Mix the Tablespoon of cornstarch with a bit of water and whisk to combine. Slowly add it into the pot with the sugar, vinegar, juice mixture. Increase heat and simmer, whisking constantly until the sauce has thickened. Add in the remaining tbsp of butter and the orange zest stir to combine and turn off the heat. Set aside.

- When the seitan is ready, remove it from the oven. Place one cutlet on each plate, and top with as much sauce as you like. FYI the sauce also tastes great over broccoli and rice!