My First Homemade Ciabatta Bread

My hubby love ciabatta bread, so I've been wanting to make it for a long time. I've watched numerous videos and recipes in the past and it seems to be a little more complicated than any normal dough. I remember making it is not easy, and it requires a good oven. Hence, I've been delaying my intention to bake one.

...the high hydration in this bread gives it a lovely chewy center...
But I was wrong! Lucky for me that I decided to bake it few days ago. Yes, the dough was a little tacky to handle but it's not anything too complicated for me. The dough needs to be wet and sticky. The high hydration in this bread gives it a lovely chewy center with tons of irregular holes.


I've make this bread with a bread flour and instant yeast which are a few months passed their 'best used by' date, and it still yields a good ciabatta bread. I can't wait to bake this again using fresh ingredients.

Okay, here's the recipe. I've halved the recipe from Baked by An Introvert because I don't have a big oven. This recipe make a two 6" loaves or a 12" loaf. Happy baking!


CIABATTA BREAD
(Recipe adapted from Baked by An Introvert)
Prep Time  : 182 mins (+ 24 hours refrigerate)
Cook Time : 27 mins
Total Time : 3 hours 29 mins (+ 24 hours refrigerate)
Makes       : Two 6" loaves or One 12" loaf

Ingredients:
Sponge
100g bread flour
120g water
1/8 tsp instant yeast

Dough
177g bread flour
120g water
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp oil (for greasing)

Directions:
Sponge
1. In a large bowl, combine flour, water and yeast. Mix with a wooden spoon until it is free of lumps. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.


Sponge: After 24 hours

Dough
2. Remove your sponge from the fridge and add water to it. Using a rubber spatula, run around the inner wall of the bowl to release the sponge from the bowl.

3. Transfer the sponge mixture into a mixer bowl, fitted with paddle attachment. Add the flour and salt, beat low speed for a minute.

4. Increase the speed up a notch and continue to beat for another minute. Then increase the speed up a notch and continue to beat until the dough starts to release from the sides of the bowl, about 3-4 minutes.

5. Evenly coat the inner of a large bowl with a thin layer of oil. With wet hands, gently scoop the dough into the greased bowl, Cover and let it rest for 45 minutes.

6. Using a well greased scraper, gently fold the dough over on itself. Cover and let rest for another 45 minutes. Repeat this step once more.

7. After your 3rd 45 minutes rest, cut a big piece of non-stick baking parchment paper to be used as your work surface. Generously floured your work surface and let the dough slide out from the bowl onto your work surface. At this point, your dough is full of the wonderful air bubbles. Be careful not to knock all the air out of the dough. The dough will be very sticky, so you need to dust the top of the dough with generous amount of flour.

Two Mini Loaves
8a. Using two well-floured scrapers, shape the dough into a square, take note not to put pressure on top of the dough. Cut down in the middle and gently shape them into 2 loaves. Move one of the loaf away from the other so that there is enough space in between to create a divider/ wall. To do so, fold up the parchment paper in between these two loaves. Cover with a cloth and rest for 20 minutes.

One Loaf
8b. Using two well-floured scrapers, shape the dough into a loaf, take note not to put pressure on top of the dough. Cover with a cloth and rest for 20 minutes.

9. Preheat oven at 230°c, with a baking sheet at lowest rack.

10. Cut your work surface (the non-stick parchment paper) to the size of the baking sheet. Dust off any excess flour on the parchment paper. Spray the loaf/ loaves lightly with water. Transfer the whole parchment paper and loaf/ loaves on the preheated baking sheet. Bake for 22 - 27 minutes, until the crust is deep golden brown .

11. For the first 5 minutes of baking, spray the loaf/ loaves twice more. This will give the breast a nice rustic crust.

12. Cool completely on wire rack before slicing. This bread is good for dipping in soup or sauces. Enjoy!

Notes:
● The longer you let your sponge to sit in the fridge, the more flavor and structure your bread will have.

● I find that using a non-stick parchment paper as work surface is so much easier to handle than working on a countetop surface.

● Make sure to use a lint-free cloth to cover the dough.


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Chicken Rice Malay Style / Nasi Ayam Yang Lazat



Would you believe me if I told you that I cooked all these just because i wanted to drink the soup? Haha, yes, I have a weak spot for malay soup! But that was all before I tasted all these!

Now, I've fallen in love with the whole set ~ the succulent chicken, the fragrant rice, the savoury sweet gravy, the spicy sweet chilli sauce and the aromatic soup! Oh so yumm!



I love my soup with loads of cilantro and fried shallots! Normally, when I order this outside, they don't put alot of these 2 ingredients. And I always have to ask them for more. So, cooking this at home is so much satisfying, I get to put as much as I wanted!


CHICKEN RICE MALAY STYLE / NASI AYAM YANG LAZAT
(Recipe adapted from Azie Kitchen)

Prep Time  : 30 mins (+1 hour 30 mins marinade & drying)
Cook Time : 1 hour 30 mins
Total Time : 2 hours (+1 hour 30 mins marinade & drying)
Makes       : 1/2 chicken

Ingredients:
Chicken
1/2 chicken (approx. 800g)
1 inch ginger
3 shallots
2 cloves garlic

(Marinade for Chicken) - combined in small bowl
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 Tbsp sweet soy sauce/ kicap manis
1/2 Tbsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp white pepper powder

1 Tbsp honey (for glazing)

Chicken Rice
2 cups rice, washed & drained
2 Tbsp margarine
5 shallots
3 cloves garlic
2 inch ginger
2 pcs pandan leaves
1 pc lemongrass, cut into 5-6 cm length & bruised
1 pc bay leave
1 pc star anise
2 pcs cardamon
1 pc cinnamon stick
1 tsp salt
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
1/2 chicken cube

Chilli Sauce
5 pcs red chillies, deseeded
1-2 pcs bird's eyes chillies, desseeded
5 cloves garlic
2 inch ginger
2 tomatoes, deseeded
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 tsp white vinegar
1 Tbsp ketchup
Sugar to taste
Salt to taste

Gravy
1/4 cup sweet soy sauce/ kicap manis
Chicken marinade liquid
1 Tbsp soy sauce (optional)

Soup
1 pouch sup bunjut
1 chicken cube
1 stalk cilantro/ chinese celery/ daun sup
1 Tbsp fried shallots
800ml water
Chicken stock
Salt to taste
Handful chopped cilantro
Handful fried shallots

Directions:
Chicken
1. Clean chicken thoroughly, exfoliating the skin with coarse salt to remove all impurities (slimes & small feathers). This is an essential step to ensure that your chicken is clean and does not has any unwanted odour.

2. With a mortar and pestle, crush ginger, shallots and garlic into a rough paste. Rub the paste onto chicken and leave it for at least 30 minutes. Bring a pot of water to boil and poach the chicken till is it half cooked. Remove chicken from water, marinade with the marinade seasoning for 1-2 hours, or overnight. (*) See notes below

3. Place chicken on a rack or hang it to dry, for at least an hour before deep frying it. (If marinade overnight, make sure the chicken is not cold. If it's cold, let it rest on tabletop for another 30 minutes or more.) (**) See notes below

4. Immediately after deep frying the chicken, glaze chicken with honey. Leave aside until it is cool to touch, then cut into desired sizes.

Chicken Rice
5. Add rice and chicken stock into rice cooker.

6. Blend garlic, shallots and ginger into a rough paste.

7. Heat 2 tablespoon of margarine on a wok or saucepan, sauté the blended paste and lemongrass until fragrant. Follow with pandan leave, bay leave, star anise, cardamon and cinnamon stick, continue to sauté until you can smell the aromatic spices. Add water, salt and chicken cube. Let it comes to a boil or until chicken cube dissolve. Off the heat. Pour everything into the rice cooker. Cook rice as usual.

Chilli Sauce
8. Add chillies, garlic, ginger, tomatoes and chicken stock into a blender and blend to desired texture. Cook the blended chillies mixture in a wok until it becomes viscous. Season accordingly.

Gravy
9. Add the reserved liquid from chicken marinade and sweet soy sauce into a saucepan. Bring to a boil and season accordingly.

Soup
10. Add water, chicken cube, sup bunjut pouch and cilantro to the remaining chicken stock and bring to a boil. Lower the fire and let it simmer for 30 mins. Add chopped cilantro and fried shallots. Serve hot!

Notes:
(*) Keep the chicken stock for the soup, rice and chili sauce.
(**) Reserve the liquid from chicken marinade for the gravy.

● When cooking the rice, use the rice cup measurement for both rice and liquid.


#msyummyliciousrecipe
Make this recipe? Don't forget to snap a photo of it and tag #msyummyliciousrecipe on social media! I would love to see them! Enjoy my recipe!





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