Pretzels of the World 5.15 Jews and Chinese Food

“Pretzels of the world. San Francisco sourdough, German pumpernickel, chocolate-covered Swiss, and the wasabi bites are very intriguing.”

Ingredients:

For the San Francisco Sourdough:

• 100 g sourdough starter (for directions on how to do this, you can go here)

• 1 cup lukewarm water

• 2 tbsp sugar

• 1 tbsp kosher salt

• 4 cups all-purpose flour

For the German Pumpernickel:

(recipe adapted from Cookie Madness)

• ½ packet instant yeast

• ¾ cup warm water

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• ¾ cup rye flour

• ¾ cup whole wheat flour

• 1 tsp kosher salt

• 1 ½ tbsp dark cocoa powder

• ½ tbsp brown sugar

• 1 tbsp molasses

• 2 tbsp melted butter

• 1 tbsp fennel seeds

For the Chocolate-Covered Swiss:

• 1 cup whole milk

• 2 cups good quality Swiss chocolate.

For the Wasabi Bites:

• ¾ cup kewpie mayo

• 1 tbsp wasabi paste

To bake the pretzels:

• 6 cups water

• 2 tbsp baking soda

• 1 egg, beaten

• 1 tbsp coarse salt

Note: The chocolate-covered pretzel and wasabi bites use the sourdough pretzel dough, so if you plan on only making those, follow the sourdough pretzel recipe.

Directions:

For the San Francisco Sourdough:

1. Combine the sourdough starter, water, and sugar in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer.

2. Sift in the flour one cup at a time, mixing in between adding each cup. You will likely need a dough hook, but if you don’t have one, you can use your hands. To prevent sticking, use olive oil to grease your hands.

3. Stir in the salt until fully combined.

4. Cover with a hand towel and allow to rise for 1 hour in a warm, dry place. The dough should be doubled in size.

5. Once the dough has risen, transfer it to a lightly floured surface.

6. Divide the dough into 13 even balls.

7. Roll out 12 (if you are making the wasabi bites, set aside the 13th piece) into an even rope about ½ in thick and form a pretzel shape (tutorial here).

8. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.

9. Bring the 6 cups of water to a boil over high heat. Then add in the baking soda.

10. While the water comes to a boil, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

11. Carefully dunk the pretzels into the boiling water and allow to sit in the water for 1 minute.

12. Place the pretzels on the lined baking sheet. Then brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle with salt. (If you are making the chocolate-covered pretzels, only salt 6 of the pretzels).

13. Bake at 450 F for 15 minutes.

For the German Pumpernickel:

1. Dissolve the yeast into the warm water. Allow to sit for 10 minutes to allow the yeast to activate.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine all 3 flours.

3. Add in the yeast mixture, salt, cocoa powder, sugar, molasses, and butter.

4. Mix until fully combined. You will likely need a dough hook, but if you don’t have one, you can use your hands. To prevent sticking, use olive oil to grease your hands.

5. Cover the dough with a towel and allow to rise for 1 hour in a warm, dry place. The dough should be doubled in size.

6. After the dough has risen, divide into 6 even balls.

7. Roll out the dough and form a pretzel shape.

8. Follow the above steps to prep the pretzels for baking.

9. Bake at 450 F for 15 minutes.

10. Sprinkle with the fennel seeds after baking

For the Chocolate-Covered Swiss:

1. Combine the milk and the chocolate in a double boiler until the chocolate has melted.

2. Dip the pretzels you didn’t salt into the chocolate until fully coated.

For the Wasabi Bites:

1. With the 13th piece of dough, divide it into 4 small balls of dough.

2. Follow the above steps to prep the pretzel bites for baking.

3. Bake at 450 F for 15 minutes.

4. While the pretzels are baking, combine the mayo and wasabi paste in a small bowl.

5. After the pretzels have baked, dip into the wasabi mayo.

Sourdough, Chocolate-covered, Pumpernickel, and the Wasabi Bites.

I’m back! I sort of fell into a rut with recipe writing (probably because this one is so long) and updating my blog. So thank you for understanding while I was not posting here for about a month. I believe I am ready and back into the swing of things now. School has started again, so work is becoming busy, but I think I’ll be able to get caught up here over the next few weeks. If you want to stay the most up-to-date with all my dishes, be sure to follow me on Instagram!

Happy Cooking from the Hollow!

If you missed what I made last episode, catch up here!