Sriracha bread | Bewitching Kitchen

For those who like it really hot…

It’s been a while since I blogged about bread, in fact I have a nice bread post waiting patiently in a long line to show up here, but last weekend I stumbled upon a very interesting recipe, and made it right away. I simply could not wait to share because it’s so unusual and intriguing. A very simple no-knead dough using instant yeast, but here is the devilish twist: the dough is flavored with red pepper flakes and…. ready for this? Sriracha sauce! Can you imagine it? Now, I am a certified Sriracha-cheerleader, but never imagined adding it to bread. Apparently no one had, until DeKay did a search in google for Sriracha and no-knead bread, and came up empty-handed. He took matters into his own hands (sorry, lousy pun), and made this version. I could not wait to try it. It turned out awesome, and I think any Sriracha lover will fall in love with the devil after trying a piece. Ok, if not with the devil himself, definitely with his bread.. But, before I give you the recipe, let me share a cartoon that cracked me up the other day. Perfect!

(Photo credit: Benjamin Schwartz/The New Yorker Collection/The Cartoon Bank)

Conde Nast TagID: cncartoons031905/Photo via Conde Nast

THE DIABLO BREAD
(adapted from The Mad Scientist Labs)

400 grams unbleached all-purpose flour
7 grams table salt
1/2 teaspoon instant dry yeast
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
260 grams cool water (55 – 65 °F)
60 grams (4 tablespoons) Sriracha sauce (go for it!)
Wheat bran for dusting

Mix the flour. salt, yeast, and pepper flakes together in a medium-sized bowl. Add in the water and Sriracha sauce. Mix using a wooden spoon or your hand until all of the flour is incorporated and the dough is sticky. This should only take 30 seconds or so. Add more water if the dough seems too dry.

Transfer the dough to another bowl lightly oiled or sprayed with cooking spray. Leave one hour at room temperature, remove the dough to a lightly flour surface and knead it 8 to 10 times. Place it back in the bowl, cover with oiled plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature for 3 more hours. Place it in the refrigerator overnight (about 12 hours). Remove the dough from the fridge, dump it into a lightly floured surface, and shape it as a ball. Place it in a banneton or another appropriate container seam side up, dusted with wheat bran for its final proofing, two hours at room temperature.

Heat the oven to 450 F. After the shaped bread proofed for 2 hours, invert it on a sheet of parchment paper, so that the seam side is now down. Slash the surface with a serrated knife, and place it in the oven, using your favorite method to generate steam (I bake my bread inside a large Dutch oven, and cover it with a wet lid).

After 30 minutes, open the lid and allow the bread to brown for 10 to 15 minutes longer. You can lower the oven to 425 F in case it is browning too fast.

Once the loaf is a nice dark brown, take it out of the pan and set it on a wire rack to cool for at least an hour.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Be honest with me. Have you ever seen a more awe-inducing color of a bread dough in your whole life? I know, you can hardly continue reading, you want to run away and call your family and close friends over, then your neighbors, and anyone else wandering the streets. It is pure Sriracha beauty. My dear friend Denise saw this photo and said “you expect to see a flamingo flying out of the dough any minute”. I could not have said it better myself.

My basic change to the recipe was to take it from “no-knead” to “minimal knead.” I’ve made enough no-knead breads to realize that just one small cycle of minimal kneading or folding does wonders to improve the texture of the crumb. It is almost as though with no kneading whatsoever you’ll get a slightly harsher crumb, not very well structured. One cycle of kneading gives the dough a little extra body that pays off in the final product. Of course, you can skip it and go for a completely knead-free production, you won’t hurt my feelings…

The smell as this bread baked was something! Sriracha on opioids. I fully agree with DeKay on the taste, though. It is not overly spicy, baking seems to mellow some of its peppery nature, but make no mistake, it is hot. If you don’t like Sriracha, this bread is not for you. As to the red pepper flakes, I think I like the amount I added, not more. Every once in a while you bite into a flake and get that hush of heat that lasts just a second or two. Perfect. I think this bread would be great paired with a bowl of chili in the winter, but if you toast it lightly and add some tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and run it under the broiler for a minute it is sinful. Sinful. But then again, what else could you expect from The Bread of the Devil?

😉

If you’ve been naughty enough, you can have several slices….