A Chinese Pizzaiolo’s Attempt at SD Pretzel

For some reason, I’ve been badly craving the cheddar-overspilled pizza rolls sold in a Canadian supermarket. Of course, there is no way I could buy them now, being in HK. Because plain pizza rolls sound a tad boring, the plan was to make pizza-flavored lye pretzels with spinach dough.

I felt that the formula was still missing something. Pepperoni appeared too common and I didn’t have it on hand as well. What happens when a pizzeria runs out of pepperoni? Pizzaioli from all over the world have countless solutions to offer: sausages, pulled pork, chicken, seafood, steak, veggies, extra cheese, along with a few thousand more. As for me… May I suggest Chinese sausage? No doubt I ain’t the first to put it on pizza, nor would I be the last. Its sweetness goes surprisingly well with savory cheese and tart tomatoes. With this in mind, I paired cheddar and sun-dried tomatoes with Chinese sausages. Cilantro has to be included next since it is Chinese sausage’s best friend (think Chinese fried glutinous rice生炒糯米飯). Long story short, we now end up with pizza-stuffed pretzels.

Cheddar, Sun-Dried Tomato, Chinese Sausage & Cilantro SD Pretzel

Sift out the bran from dough flour, reserve 26 g for the leaven. Soak the rest, if any, in equal amount of whey taken from dough ingredients. 

Combine all leaven ingredients and let sit until ready, about 3 hours (28°C). Roughly combine all dough ingredients. Ferment for a total of 4 hours. Slap and fold the dough until gluten is developed (around 5 minutes) at the 15 minute mark.  

Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and roll each into a long strip with thin ends and a thick centre. Flatten the centre of the dough with a rolling pin and place the filling over the middle. Roll the dough up and pinch the edges together to seal the opening. Shape into pretzels. Put the shaped dough onto a baking sheet with greased parchment and refrigerate uncovered for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven at 250°C/482°F.

Prepare a 4% lye solution (For those who are new to working with lye, please read the safely precautions before you start. Strong alkaline is highly corrosive.) by dissolving 16 g food grade sodium hydroxide in 400 g lukewarm water. Piece by piece, dip the cold pretzels into the lye solution for a few seconds. Drain well before placing them back onto the baking sheet or they might stick to the parchment.

Score the dough at the centre to expose the filling. Bake at 250°C/482°F with steam for 12 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches a minimum of 208°F. Let it cool for 20 minutes before serving.

Red fife wheat and sprouted rye were chosen as they are strong flavors less likely to be masked by the lye and pizza filling. Although this combo sounds strange, its taste and texture is in fact  well-balanced. The cilantro helps to tie up different elements of the bread and is absolutely not optional in my opinion.

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Baked spicy pomfret, pan-grilled shrimp and beef skewers, semola flatbread with smoky eggplant dip & roasted carrots, caramelized cabbage wedges with sautéed onions & mushrooms, and bulgar pilaf

White bread(s) of the week: 50% durum & kamut SD

65% hydration T55 baguette

OK-crumb

Ahem, awful crust… lol