① Polish Starter (Poolish)
Bread flour: 100g
High-gluten flour
500 g
Ice water
350 g
Dry yeast
3 g
Salt
10 g
Ice water (added later)
50 g
Olive oil (added later): 30 grams
The poolish needs to be prepared in advance. Weigh 100 grams of bread flour, 100 grams of water, and 1 gram of dry yeast into a small bowl. Stir evenly with a scraper until no dry flour remains. Refrigerate and ferment for 12 hours. When it smells sour, has expanded to two or three times its original volume, and is full of honeycomb holes inside, the poolish is ready. After the poolish is ready, start kneading the main dough. Weigh the poolish, 500 grams of bread flour, 350 grams of ice water, 3 grams of dry yeast, and 10 grams of salt into the mixing bowl. Mix at low speed with a stand mixer until no dry flour remains, then switch to high speed and mix until a rough membrane forms. Add 50 grams of ice water and 30 grams of olive oil in four portions, mixing until each portion is fully absorbed. Mix at high speed until the dough is smooth and can be stretched into a thin film. Keep the dough temperature below 26°C. If the temperature rises too high, you may also place the dough in the refrigerator for a short hydration rest to develop the membrane.Oil your hands and the fermentation box with olive oil. After folding and shaping the dough, place it into the fermentation box. Ferment at room temperature of 24-28°C for 60 minutes.
Dampen your hands with water, take out the dough. Fold it in half from the middle, then rotate the direction, and fold in half from the middle again. This is equivalent to folding left and right toward the center once, and top and bottom toward the center once. After folding, continue fermenting for 40 minutes. Sift a thick layer of dry flour over the dough. Turn the dough out onto a kneading mat. At this point, the bottom is facing up. Dust the upward-facing bottom with dry flour to facilitate cutting. Gently shape the dough into a slightly rectangular form, then cut it into 6 pieces in one go. Using a scraper, repeatedly push inward from both sides in small increments. In this way, the bottom currently in contact with the kneading mat will develop a bark-like texture. Sprinkle plenty of dry flour on the proofing cloth. With the scraper, transfer the cut dough pieces onto the proofing cloth by sliding them, meaning the bark-like texture remains facing down. Cover with the proofing cloth and ferment for the third time at room temperature for 40 minutes.Preheat the oven 10 minutes in advance. Meanwhile, use a scraper or transfer board to move the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Note that the side with the tree bark pattern should face up at this point.
For a deck oven, set to 230°C. After preheating, place the baking sheet inside, quickly spray water mist 5 times, and bake for 20 minutes. The exterior is plain, while the interior has large and uniform air holes. When freshly baked, the crust is thin and crispy, and the inside is moist and soft. After cooling, the crust becomes soft and chewy, yet the interior remains tender and moist. It can be filled with kimchi, braised pork, eggs, lettuce, salad, steak, or cheese, and served as a sandwich — perfect for those on a fat-loss diet. Two classic ciabatta sandwich suggestions: peanut butter with banana slices; salad dressing with cucumber slices, ham slices, fried egg, and pork floss. Beautiful, isn’t it?