A very light bread, steamed bread with seeds and sourdough starter. I learned to make steamed bread years ago, and I make it often.
Steamed bread is very different from oven-baked bread but not for that any less good. In macrobiotics it is widely used precisely because baking in a high-temperature oven heats a lot and is very yang, so if you overdo baked products you create tension at the intestinal level and in the solar plexus.
If you love healthy cooking, I absolutely recommend steaming; it is undoubtedly the gentlest method and preserves the vitamins and minerals of foods intact, and retains the organoleptic characteristics of foods.
There are many ways to steam cook. First, in a large pot pour a couple of centimeters of water (about 1 inch), place the steam basket, add the vegetables and close with a lid. In a few minutes you’ll have perfect, flavorful cooking: since foods do not touch the water they cook gently and remain tastier.
Soon I’ll post steamed rice, steamed vegetables, steamed dumplings and also bao buns (baozi) and mantou.
Another method is pressure cooker steaming, again using a steam basket. If you have an electric steamer it’s done in no time, or you can use the Varoma of the Bimby.
Try also the Chinese bamboo steamer — you’ll see how delicious it is. The first times I saw steamed bread being cooked it was precisely in a bamboo basket.
So if you learn to make steamed bread with seeds, I really recommend it.
See other bread recipes here:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Rest time: 4 Hours
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Cooking time: 45 Minutes
- Portions: 1 large loaf
- Cooking methods: Steaming
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients — Steamed Bread with Seeds
This time I prepared the steamed bread using dried sourdough starter, but you can use fresh sourdough starter or brewer’s yeast.
- 300 g farina tipo 2
- 200 g farina integrale
- 40 g lievito madre essiccato
- 1 cucchiaino malto di riso
- 350 g acqua (tiepida)
- 1 cucchiaino sale marino integrale
- 40 g semi di girasole
- 10 g semi di zucca
Tools
- 1 Cestello per cottura a vapore
Steps to prepare steamed bread with seeds
I made it in the Bimby, but you can use a bamboo steamer basket or a pot.
Place the flours, the starter, and about 30 g of chopped seeds (about 3 tbsp / 1 oz) into the stand mixer, mix, add the rice malt, then add the water little by little while continuing to mix. Knead until the dough is developed for about ten minutes and finally sprinkle the salt along the sides.
Knead well, then transfer to a floured work surface using semolina.
Make folds and knead a bit more. Put the dough in a bowl in a warm place and every 40 minutes do a set of folds (deflate gently and fold the dough like a book) three times.
At the end, shape the loaf well from underneath and pinch. Let rise for about 3 hours in a warm place in a switched-off oven. You can also let it rise overnight or even for a whole day if you refrigerate it and then bring it back to room temperature before baking.
Gently deflate the dough, make a few more folds, dust with seeds and let rise for another hour. At this point I lined the Bimby Varoma plate with parchment paper, placed the loaf on it, poured 1 liter (about 4 1/4 cups / 34 fl oz) of water into the basket and steamed at Varoma with the lid on for 45 minutes at speed 1. Let cool and slice.
Do the same with a normal steamer: with the bamboo basket you must place it over a pot with water simmering on low and again steam the loaf for 45 minutes.
If you make the loaf in a bamboo basket be careful: you must modify it by removing one tier from one of the two levels, otherwise as the bread rises it will touch the other level.
Tips from Timo and Lentils
Use the same procedure with a regular steamer. With the bamboo basket place it on a pot with water simmering on low and steam the loaf for 45 minutes. If you make a loaf in the bamboo basket you must modify it by removing one tier from one of the two levels, otherwise the bread as it grows will touch the other level.
Note: if you like bread with a crust, steamed bread does not develop one — it remains moist and light-colored, soft, similar to flatbread.
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