When I say 鈥渂ratwurst,鈥� what do you think of? Do you envision a long, skinny Thuringian sausage? A stout Wisconsin-style oozing with cheese? A beige, flaccid supermarket thing flecked with too few herbs? Or maybe, because you鈥檙e vegetarian, you don鈥檛 think of them at all. With Oktoberfest just behind us, I admit that I, a vegan, have been thinking about bratwurst a lot. And not just any bratwurst. For me, it鈥檚 Bavarian or bust.

My mom is from Bavaria鈥攕pecifically from just outside of Nuremberg.聽Lucky child that I was, I spent a few weeks in Bavaria every couple of years, and during each visit, I absolutely housed a cool thirty to forty of these perfect, porky delicacies. The thing about Nuremberger bratwursts, you see, is they鈥檙e very small鈥攗sually three to four inches long, less than an inch across. As street food, they鈥檙e typically served three to a bun, adorned with a generous pump of mustard. Ordered in a restaurant, they鈥檒l be served on a metal plate splayed atop a bed of sauerkraut braised with apples and juniper berries, mustard and maybe potato salad, a soft pretzel, or dense rye bread served alongside. There are also Franconian bratwursts鈥攍onger, thicker sausages with similar seasonings to Nurembergers. While I scarfed the mini ones on trips to downtown Nuremberg, romping among medieval churches and castles, drunk on pork, the latter were what my uncle most often grilled to perfection in his backyard.

I visited Germany in 2005 knowing it would be the last time I would eat either of those brats. I had already known for some time that my eating habits no longer squared with my ethics, and I was trying to learn to cook better veggie food. In 2004, I fell in love with a vegan, which not only underscored my actual beliefs but caused me to up my vegan cooking game as I strove to impress. But though I ate less meat that trip to Germany than I ever had before, the last night of my visit I hoovered bratwursts the way in that bizarre old cartoon鈥擨 wanted to overdo it, get sick of them for good. I probably ate ten brats in one sitting, some finger-sized, some large. But rather than turn me off of bratwurst for good, that final herculean feat of pig consumption, for better or worse, imprinted the tastes and textures into my memory for life.

My Journey to a Vegan Bratwurst

There were, in fact, commercially-made vegan Nuremberger bratwursts available in Germany in 2005, and I even smuggled a few home in my suitcase for my boyfriend to try. But they were weird and bready and frankly left me cold. While I didn鈥檛 know much about making seitan at that time, I knew wheat gluten magic was possible due to frequenting Bo De Duyen (RIP), a Chinese Buddhist vegetarian restaurant in Toronto鈥檚 Chinatown. My boyfriend had eaten at Bo De for years, and when he introduced me to it, I tried as much of the vast menu as I could, marveling at the tastes and textures the chefs achieved with soy, mushrooms, and wheat.

As things got serious with my boyfriend, so too did my studying of vegan cookbooks. I first learned to make seitan the old-school way鈥攚ashing the starch out of a flour-and-water dough by hand until only the stretchy protein, the gluten, remained鈥攆rom Peter Berley鈥檚 The Modern Vegetarian. I did this with glee a couple of times a year, ending up with rather spongey, vaguely beefy chunks that nonetheless pleased me greatly, until I at long last learned of the existence of vital wheat gluten flour鈥攆lour that鈥檚 already been mechanically washed, leaving only the protein behind鈥攆rom Isa Chandra Moskowitz鈥檚 website. It was there, too, that I found my first recipe for a steamed seitan sausage and it absolutely blew my mind. The now-iconic process of mixing some sort of legume ingredient with gluten flour, wrapping it into a sausage shape, and steaming was actually developed by Vegan Diner author Julie Hasson, and cited in Moskowitz鈥檚 Vegan Brunch. Over email, Hasson told me that her inspiration came from veggie legend Bryanna Clark Grogan who 鈥渉ad steamed a seitan burger or something, which made me wonder if I could create a sausage and steam it. I added chickpea flour to soften the texture, so it wasn鈥檛 rubbery. It took a lot of experimenting to get that recipe.鈥�

Thanks to Hasson et al鈥檚 innovations, I steamed many a solid sausage throughout the 2010s. Still, though I consulted with my mom and struggled through countless YouTubes made by Bavarian butchers to get my seasonings right, the right texture and, uh, porkiness remained missing from my brats. Then, in 2017, I joined the a Facebook group full of seitan masters hailing from Albuquerque to Zimbabwe that鈥檚 easily my favorite place on the internet. The experiments of these thousands of intrepid home cooks, business owners, and YouTubers took my sausages to the next level. I began to play with new flavoring ingredients and thought through texture in a whole new way. I even learned about making vegan casings, which has forever changed my sausage game.

Thanks in large part to YouTuber and author of Making Vegan Meat, Mark Thompson, many home cooks are now attempting Beyond Meat-style sausage with pea protein, methylcellulose, and a casing made from a, uh, chemical goo? I鈥檓 all for it, and if that kind of thing floats your boat, head over to . But for these brats, my vision was to go less for full-on verisimilitude, and instead celebrate the satisfying textures produced by humble ingredients like buckwheat, lentils, and wheat protein, as well as the meaty flavors made possible by umami-rich ferments.

I鈥檝e been working on this particular iteration for a couple of years now, and when I recently grilled my latest batch up for two friends鈥攐ne vegetarian, one not鈥擨 knew I鈥檇 finally nailed it. The former called these brats 鈥淵our best fake meat yet!鈥� while the omnivore, not always a seitan fan, said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 a bit crumbly and not all one texture, just the way a sausage should be. Very flavorful. It鈥檚 great.鈥� Mission accomplished.

To all the sausage makers who came before me, from medieval Bavarians and Chinese Buddhist monks, to the innovators of the nineties, and the food scientists of Facebook, I raise a glass to you and say 鈥淧rost!鈥�

The Vegan Bratwurst Recipe

I admit this recipe looks a bit long and involved, but it鈥檚 really just a matter of gathering your ingredients and mixing them together, no special techniques required. You can divide up the work if you like: whip up the dough on day one, wrap and steam on day two, then fry or grill when you鈥檙e ready. These also freeze well, so feel free to make a double batch to ensure you鈥檙e ready for the next Oktoberfest. You can also quadruple the spice mix (minus the breadcrumbs), keep it in a jar, and add five teaspoons of the mix per batch of sausages.

On casings:聽The casing is notoriously the hardest part when it comes to vegan sausage. I have tested many, and have been happiest with but it is sometimes hard to find. Frozen beancurd skin works well too, just be sure to soak it for a few minutes before wrapping. Japanese soy paper used for sushi comes in third鈥攊t doesn鈥檛 seem to fry or grill up as crispy as the others, but it鈥檚 still a good edible option if you prefer not to use foil.

That being said, these brats are delicious when fried or grilled without a casing, so don鈥檛 let lack of access to soy papers or skins hold you back! The seitan and lentils and buckwheat on the outside get toasty and browned, and the casing won鈥檛 be missed. Plus it鈥檚 way easier to make shapely, round sausages with foil.

As noted above, you can also dip your foil-steamed sausage into a Beyond Meat-style casing per YouTuber and cookbook author Mark Thompson鈥檚 instructions .

On shio koji:聽If you鈥檙e not familiar, shio koji is a popular seasoning in Japan made from fermented rice and salt. You can learn more about it . You can buy it ready-made at many Japanese supermarkets and online; either the liquid or creamy version work well in this recipe. Once you have shio koji, you can marinate tofu, tempeh, and mushrooms in it to great effect, add it to soups and stews for added umami. If you can鈥檛 find shio koji, miso mixed with water makes a perfectly fine substitute, your sausages will still be great.

贰辩耻颈辫尘别苍迟:听For this recipe, you鈥檒l need some kind of steaming apparatus. If you鈥檙e not using a casing, you鈥檒l also need cheesecloth or tin foil.

Vegan Bratwurst

Makes four Franconian (large) or six Nuremberger (small) bratwursts.

Ingredients

For Seasoning Liquid

• 录 of a medium onion (tennis ball-sized), grated on the large holes of a box grater
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely grated
• 1 tbsp brine from a jar of sauerkraut or white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp shio koji or 1/2 tbsp miso and 陆 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp marmite
• 陆 tsp liquid smoke
• 录 cup + 1 tbsp water
• 陆 tsp vegetable bouillon powder or 录 teaspoon salt

For Sausage

• 戮 cups vital wheat gluten (120 grams)
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 陆 tsp ground ginger
• 录 tsp nutmeg
• 录 tsp allspice
• 2 tsp marjoram
• 陆聽 tsp garlic powder
• 陆 tsp onion powder
• Several grinds of black pepper
• 1 tbsp panko or breadcrumbs
• 2 tbsp buckwheat groats
• 录 cup cooked green, brown, or French lentils, either canned or cooked from dried
• 2 tbsp olive oil

For Casing (Optional, See Notes Above)

• 4-6 sheets of soy paper or beancurd skin (see notes), cut into rectangles about 8 inches square, give or take, and depending on how large you want your sausages to be
• 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp water

Instructions

1. In a dry pan or pot (I use the pot I鈥檒l steam my sausages in) toast the buckwheat groats over medium heat, shaking the pan occasionally, until they are fragrant, crunchy and tasty when you eat one, about five minutes. Watch carefully in the last couple of minutes so they don鈥檛 burn. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together all liquid seasoning ingredients. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix vital wheat gluten together with all dry seasoning ingredients.
4. Add lentils and toasted buckwheat to the gluten mixture and stir with a fork until the lentils and buckwheat are coated. Now add the olive oil and stir until it鈥檚 absorbed (adding the oil before the other liquid helps prevent it leaking out later).
5. Add the seasoning liquid to the gluten mixture and mix until no dry spots remain and a dough has formed. Knead lightly with your hands a few times until the mixture is cohesive. If some of the buckwheat is falling out, don鈥檛 worry. It happens. Set the dough aside to rest while you set up your steamer and casing station.
6. Set up your steaming apparatus. (I fill the pot I toasted my buckwheat in a third of the way with water and put my steamer in.) Bring to a boil over high heat. Once it鈥檚 boiling, turn down to medium low to hold the water at a simmer.
7. If using either edible casing, prepare the glue by mixing the all purpose flour with the water in a small bowl with a fork until it鈥檚 a smooth paste. If using beancurd skin, fill a medium bowl with warm tap water and soak your squares for about five minutes. If you鈥檙e using foil, tear off 4-6 squares of foil, depending on the size of sausages you鈥檇 like to make.
8. Break off a chunk of dough and form into a log-like shape of your preferred size on top of your casing of choice or square of foil. It may take a few tries to see what size your casing can hold and what you prefer. Be patient and practice a little. It gets easier as you go. Roll the dough up in the casing, creating a sausage shape as best you can. Tuck the ends in as if wrapping a gift or making a burrito, sealing the seams with the flour and water glue. If using foil, simply roll up in the foil, quite tightly but with a bit of wiggle room, and twist the ends to seal them up. The buckwheat sometimes likes to fall out of the dough during shaping. You can press some of it into each sausage before wrapping, but if some of it remains in the bottom of the bowl, that鈥檚 okay.
9. Place your wrapped sausages in the steamer, cover, and steam for 45 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Transfer to a plate and allow to cool 15-20 minutes, flipping to allow the casing to dry a bit if you used one, or unwrapping from the foil and allowing the outsides to dry a bit.
10. Fry or grill immediately or refrigerate up to three days before frying or grilling. To fry: heat 2 tbps of olive oil in a skillet and fry until well browned, turning frequently, 5-10 minutes. To grill, rub each sausage in olive oil and grill on medium heat until well browned. Serve in a bun or alongside side dishes with mustard!

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