The beauty of cultivating a sourdough starter is unparalleled to anything you’d ever try. It is the most basic element in the bread world and the simplest of recipes that will imbue you with a sense of purpose. This sourdough starter recipe is the most rudimentary of cooking ingenuities required. I mean, among all other recipes. How to make sourdough starter? The question that kicked off this quest. After combing the internet of things and the universe of sourdough starter Youtube videos. And following this, mounting trial and errors, I had finally come to the conclusion that I was reading the recipe wrong. It is NOT flour and water. It is time and climate. Hence the tropics.
Day 1
Although you might be able to purchase ready made starter from sites like Lazada and Shopee, the surmounting pleasure and anticipation of making your own is just worth it. All it takes is two ingredients: flour and water. I mean, that is all it take and magic happens. On Day 1, I went in big with 80 g Natural Bread flour, 20 g wheat flour and 100 g of water. Mix thoroughly (it takes a little muscle) until a doughy mass. It is absolutely important that you use BREAD FLOUR or HIGH PROTEIN FLOUR. After many attempts, I concluded that All Purpose flour just does not work.
Do use a glass bottle or a mason jar with a loose lid. You can also snuggle cheesecloth over the bottle and secure it with a rubber band. I use another rubber band as a marker for any activity. Be sure to name your starter as it is your new born child! I called mine Francisco after the pope obviously. Just look at his pure soul! Now, leave it in a cool dry place. This is the opposite of what Western bread makers might tell you. You are now dealing with the tropical heat and humidity. So, I left mine on the refrigerator, away from direct sunlight. Here onwards, I didn’t pay too much attention to the time. Unlike the timed and precise technicalities of Western bread books, I stand by my agak-agak nature. This starter has a Malaysian soul.
Day 2
The following morning, I ended up with a funky smelling paste with murky liquid at the base. I believe this is called hooch, a very normal occurrence in the process. At this stage, don’t worry too much about any inconsistencies. All you need to do is trust in the process. During the wee hours of the morning on Day 2, I only kept 25 grams of Day 1’s starter. I discarded the rest into the compost. The mixture for Day 2 will be 25 g starter, 80 g natural bread flour, 20 g wheat flour and 100 g water. This is all you will be needing from now on, daily, until your starter starts to breathe new life.
The following morning, you will be left with this: more hooch and a seemingly developing starter (some rise and fall activity). Do note that there is a bacterial war taking place in your starter. Eventually, what happens is that your bread yeast will ideally prevail.
Day 3
Day 4
Hooch can be a scary thing, but don’t let it deter you. If you’re experiencing a prolonged hooch phenomena, keep powering through. Trust in the process.
And wallah! Day 4, everything seems to have settled in. Do note, in the tropical climates of Malaysia, and the type of bread flour you use, the process can vary. What’s important here is that you learn and familiarize yourself with the climate, time and ingredients. I believe this applies to all forms of cooking. With sourdough, it is the law.
Day 5 and 6 – The sourdough starter shows signs of regularity
Now, in hindsight, I see positive results occurring, I decided to go with the same same formula until I gain some kind of momentum. I stuck with 25 g starter from previous day, 80 g natural bread flour, 20 g whole wheat flour and 100 g water for both, Day 5 and Day 6.
Day 7 – The starter can be reduced to avoid wastage
As with other recipes I have tried on this blog, similar to the chicha morada, I feel a world of guilt brewing inside me for the wastage that these recipe’s incur. There are tons of recipes out there for sourdough starter discard, but unfortunately, they have not been to my liking. The compost was the second best option for both my chicha and sourdough starter discard.
Another thing I have found is that, a lot of the starter recipe’s out there get you to use a shit ton of flour. It seems like a conspiracy to drive flour sales if you ask me. Once I had enough balls (I didn’t want to assassinate my starter out of my own cheapness) to take the process into my own hands, I cut the recipe by almost 50 %. Again, agak-agak.
So, here is the new order of things: 12 g sourdough starter from previous day, 40 g natural bread flour, 10 g whole wheat flour and 50 g water.
From here on out – Day 8 +++
The reduction gives you ample room for rise activity as well. Well, from here on out, This is the formula that you would ideally be sticking to. When your heart tells you that your sourdough starter activity is strong enough, you can start thinking about refrigeration. This retards the rise for a couple of days, but you need to be feeding your starter at least once a week. I would keep feeding it for a couple of days to develop a little more strength before you think about refrigeration.
And for all the effort you put into this process, do keep at it. This is now a living creature that you are responsible for. It deserves your care and affection. Treat it well and it will do for you the same. Happy Starting bubble blisters!
