When I cut into the Rose Homestead’s “Easy Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread” for an IG picture, my first thought wasn’t, “Whew, it’s cooked through!” or even “What pretty orange swirls!”
It was, “Oh no, I can see the gochujang filling. I hope it doesn’t taste gross.”
I’ve been playing around with the Korean chili paste — in sourdough and sourdough discard sandwich loaves.
I never tasted the gochujang sourdough; I gave it away to a friend.
My excuse this time? I may have screwed up the amount of flour — and type — and wound up creating a dry, flyaway mess. I mean, literally, the last half-cup of einkorn (when I thought it was supposed to be einkorn, not plain bread flour) flew out of the stand mixer, even on the lowest setting.
I had to risk finger lock to hand-knead the extra flour into the dough, which took five minutes.
I wound up adding a little more water and bread flour to get the right texture. By the time I kneaded the dough in the stand mixer for eight minutes, it was pretty hefty. I’d hoped not too dry.
That’s when I got the bright idea of slathering on a thin layer of gochujang and chopped scallions before rolling the dough in a tight log and fitting it into a loaf pan.
My advice when following this recipe is to watch the dough after adding three cups. That just may be enough.
Next stop: gochujang, garlic, and scallion focaccia, because, why not?
