酒粕酵種 sake kasu (sake lees) starter

in fact i am very happy with my sourdough starter which i follow the steps of this blog http://girlmeetsrye.blogspot.hk/

as moon festival is coming i am thinking to make steam bunny bun with a different starter, sake kasu came to my mind.  last time it was a failure but i have a better luck this time.

recipe adapted from http://members3.jcom.home.ne.jp/yeast/content/koubo/sake/index.html

sake kasu yeast liquid

70 g sake kasu

10 g organic raw sugar

200 g mineral water

every time when you prepare yeast liquid or levain make sure container is sterilized with boiling water. leave it until it is cold to handle.  tear sake kasu into pieces and put it in a sterilized bottle together with sugar and mineral water. cover bottle with the lid but uncover once a day to release the gas trapped inside. after feeding, cover the bottle with a cling wrap, secure with a rubber band. pierce a few holes with a toothpick.

day 1 - 3 

you won't see a big difference. 

day 4

you will see small bubbles on the top. those smsll bubbles remind me of  the back of surinam toad. you may see some tiny pillars on the side of bottle. i guess this is the breath mark by the wild yeast.

day 4

day 5

less bubbles. ready to feed the yeast liquid.  no need to drain.

sakekasu starter

get 100g yeast liquid with same weight of bread flour and mineral water.  mix well and put in a bottle.  use a bottle that big enough for the starter to grow triple. last week it took 2 hours to grow triple at temperature around 26℃.

1 1/2 hours after the mixing

after 3 hours this is how it looks

when it grows triple, you can start mixing for bread.  remember to save 50 grams of the starter for future use. you can store this starter inside the fridge.  if not baking often, it is better to feed once a week. if you bake bread regularly, you will get a better and stronger starter.