Bread? Bread! The Great Adventures of Sourdough

Tomorrow marks the official first day of my wild yeast sour dough starter! Boy am I pumped. I went to Whole Foods and bought the necessary ingredients, which just happened to be on sale in the bulk department. Speaking of which, buying in bulk must be a foreign concept to Chicagoland people. I have visited and shopped at several different stores, but have only found but one worth visiting. This particular Whole Foods store is located in Lincoln Park, foodie central. I went crazy and stocked up on dry goods since it is a bit of hike from where I live [...if traveling by bike with several bags of groceries that is].

Anyway, I now have all my ingredients to start my sourdough bread journey. It begins with organic rye flour and water for one day. Then, for the next four days, I feed my seed culture, more flour, only this time all purpose organic flour and more water. After this, I am then ready to prepare the barm, the 'mother' or starter for most basic sourdough recipes. The recipe I fancy to prepare first is a miche style bread from France. None other than Lionel Poilane, a famous French baker, is known for this style of sourdough. His recipe is in the book The Bread Baker's Apprentice, and I highly recommend purchasing this book if you are a serious bread baker yourself. If you want to read a bit more about Mr. Poilane, go to the following website:

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/feb2007/gb20070206_625846.htm

Ingredients

	1	cup (4¼ ounces) dark rye or coarse whole rye (pumpernickel-grind) flour
	3	cups (13½ ounces) unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
	2¼	cups (18 ounces) water, at room temperature

Steps

1. Day 1: Mix the rye flour and ¾ cup (6 ounces) water together in a bowl until they form a stiff ball of dough. Do not worry if the dough is very stiff, but be sure that all the flour is hydrated. Press this piece of dough into a 4-cup measuring beaker and place a piece of tape on the beaker to mark the top of the dough. Cover the beaker with plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature for 24 hours.
2. Day 2: The dough should not have risen much, if at all, during this time. In a mixing bowl, combine the sponge from Day 1 with 1 cup (4½ ounces) unbleached flour and ½ cup (4 ounces) water, mixing with your hand or a spoon until all the ingredients are evenly distributed. The dough will be somewhat softer and wetter than before. Return this to the beaker, press it down, and replace the old tape with a new piece of tape to mark the spot. Cover with plastic wrap and ferment for 24 hours at room temperature. Do not be put off by the strong, unpleasant aroma of the dough; this will eventually brighten.
3. Day 3: Check to see if there has been a rise in the dough. There will probably be some fermentation but not a lot, perhaps a 50-percent rise. Regardless, discard half of the starter (or give it to a friend to cultivate) and mix the remaining half with 1 cup (4½ ounces) unbleached flour and ½ cup (4 ounces) water, just like on Day 2. It will be a little wetter. Again, return it to the beaker. It should press down to the same height as on Day 2. Re-tape the beaker to mark the top of the dough, cover, and ferment for 24 hours.
4. Day 4: The sponge should have at least doubled in size; more is even better. If it is still sluggish and hasn’t doubled in size, allow it to sit out for another 12 to 24 hours. Otherwise, repeat as on Day 3, discarding half of the starter and mixing the remaining half with 1 cup (4½ ounces) unbleached flour and ½ cup (4 ounces) water, returning it all to the beaker as before. Cover and ferment until it at least doubles in size; this may take 4 to 24 hours. It is OK if it triples in size, but because it is now fairly soft and spongelike, it will not be able to sustain that large of a rise without falling. If it falls easily when you tap the beaker, that is the sign that your seed culture is ready to be turned into a barm, or mother starter.

Momofuku Pork Buns

Well, I purchased the Momofuku book about a couple of months ago, but have been eyeing it up since my friend Bobby showed me his copy. One of the first things which struck me were the steamed pork buns. The actual amount of rendered pork fat is not colossal by any means, but rather scant overall. While making these I knew they were going to be worth the wait, for it took several hours until I could indulge in the soft, delicate buns.

During the fermentation and rest times, I prepared accoutrements playing off Momofuku's standard cucumber pickles, hoisin, pork, and green onion fixings. Instead, I prepared an edamame puree [see below], hoisin, sriracha, leek and pickled carrot.

Edamame Puree:

3/4 cup edamame, frozen is quite alright

pinch salt

pinch sugar

2 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp. wasabi powder

1/8 cup yellow onion

2 tsp. brown rice vinegar

1 1/2 cup water

1 tsp. oil

Saute onion in oil. Once translucent, add remaining ingredients and cook for about 30-40 minutes on medium heat covered with a lid until edamame is quite soft and skins of beans separate. Puree in food processor or blender. You may need to adjust the water content based on how much evaporated in the cooking process.

As for the Momofuku steamed bun recipe...well, I guess you'll have to buy the book. It's well worth the price.

Overall, the recipe was easy; it was just time consuming for the average person. However, I highly recommend trying this one at home. The flavor will send your senses into a frenzy and you'll be sorry you didn't make more.

Kimchi

According to my Joy of Pickling, "Korean scientists have found that fresh cabbage kimchi is actually more nutritious than unfermented Chinese cabbage....Its levels of vitamins B1, B2, B12 and niacin are twice what they were initially, and its vitamin c level equals that of fresh cabbage."

....And guess what? It tastes amazing! Unfortunately, for this particular recipe, I could not find Korean chili powder, so I substituted chili powder and chili flakes. My lovely friend Kelsey just happens to live in South Korea. I spoke with her while waiting for my cabbage to soak in the salt brine and told her about the kimchi. She was delighted and said I needed to make some for her arrival. Sure I would, just as long as she sends some of that spicy magic powder directly from Korea.

The recipe I used was from the Joy of Pickling, but I did tweak it a bit with more garlic and spice. Before I play around with too many variations, I thought it best to begin with the basics. Once I perfect the base recipe, then I will go on to add things like carrots or daikon radish.

Cabbage Kimchi

3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon pickling slat
6 cups water
2 pounds Chinese cabbage, cut into 2-inch squares
1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons Korean ground dried hot pepper (or other mildly hot ground red pepper)
1 teaspoon sugar

1. Dissolve the 3 tablespoons salt in the water. Put the cabbage into a large bowl, a crock or a nonreactive pot and pour the brine over it. Weight the cabbage down with a plate. Let the cabbage stand for 12 hours.

2. Drain the cabbage, reserving the brine. Mix the cabbage with the remaining ingredients, including the 1 teaspoon salt. Pack the mixture into a 2-quart jar. Pour enough of the reserved brine over the cabbage to cover it. Push a freezer bag into the mouth of the jar, and pour the remaining brine into the bag. Seal the bag. Let the kimchi ferment in a cool place, at a temperature no higher than 68 degrees F, for 3-6 days, until the kimchi is as sour as you like.

3. Remove the brine bag and cap the jar tightly. Store the kimchi in the refrigerator, where it will keep for months.

Makes about 1 1/2 quarts.