Tom Yum Focaccia
I love focaccia so much. It’s so filling and wholesome. Olive topped, rosemary & garlic, tomatoes, I love them all! But I’ve never had one made with Asian flavours. So naturally I had to come up with my own recipe. And I didn’t just flavour some oil and pour it on the top of my focaccia; I went all the way. I wanted this focaccia to have as much flavour as it could possibly hold. So what did I do? I flavoured the oil and the water used to make it.
My friends, this focaccia is infused with a tom yum broth. And I thought there was no way focaccia could get any better. But oh, it is so incredibly savoury, so full of umami. Just. Amazing.
The full recipe is outlined below so you can try my creation for yourself. It’s a long process, but that is what makes focaccia so amazing.
Have fun!
Love,
Elliz
Tom Yum Focaccia
Yield: 6-8
Prep time: 2 HourCook time: 1 HourInactive time: 48 HourTotal time: 51 Hour
Ingredients
Tom Yum Broth
Infused Herb Oil
Focaccia
Toppings
Instructions
Tom Yum Broth
- Bruise lemongrass in a mortar and pestle or back of your knife.
- Slice galangal into thin rounds.
- Crush the kaffir lime leaves and tear with your fingers to release the oils.
- Cut lemongrass into 3 and bruise.
- Roughly chop the onions.
- Place all the ingredients in a medium saucepan with water and the sheet of kombu.
- Boil on high for 20 minutes.
- Let it cool completely before using. Alternatively, store in the fridge overnight for extra flavour.
- Don't salt or add acid to the broth. The salt will inhibit the growth of yeast, and the acid will weaken the gluten in the dough.
Infused Herb Oil
- Bruise all the ingredients and add to a sauce pan.
- Pour the oil to cover the top and then place on the stove.
- Make sure the heat is the lowest as you can possibly go.
- We don't want to fry the ingredients, we just want it to gently infuse.
- Once you start seeing little bubbles forming, take it off the heat and let it steep for 2 hours. If you have time, steeping overnight in the fridge will give the best flavour.
Mixing the Dough
- Add flour into a large bowl.
- Sprinkle the instant yeast on one side of the bowl, and the salt on the opposite end. We don't want the salt and yeast to touch as salt kills yeast.
- With a spatula, mix the yeast with the dough first and then stir the entire thing through to combine.
- Make a well in the centre of the bowl.
- Pour the infused herb oil in.
- Start with pouring 450g of tom yum broth in and stir.
- You want a very wet and sticky dough. It should not come together into a perfect ball of dough.
- Increase the water gradually until the correct consistency is achieved.
- Cover the dough with a damp tea towel, plate or cover.
Stretching
- Let the dough rest at room temperature for 15 minutes to develop the gluten.
- Once 15 minutes is up, uncover and grab a fistful of dough and stretch to the opposite side of the bowl. Do this a few times.
- Then let it rest again for another 15 minutes.
- We want to stretch the dough a total of 4 times, with 15 minutes rests in between.
- The first 2 times you do this process, the dough may not stretch as much as the gluten hasn't yet had time to develop.
- On the 3rd and 4th stretch, the dough should be more elastic and you can stretch it further.
- Oil another bowl and transfer the dough into it. Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap.
Fermenting
- Place the dough into the fridge.
- Let it ferment overnight or up to 48 hours.
Proofing
- When you're ready to proof, retrieve the dough from the fridge and let it warm at room temperature for ten minutes.
- In the mean time, prepare a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Pour some of the infused herb oil onto the parchment paper and spread it around.
- Once the dough has warmed up, slowly pour it onto the tray.
- Do this carefully, as you don't want to deflate the dough.
- You can leave the dough on its own and it will grow into the baking tray.
- Or you can help it along by stretching the edges gently with oiled hands.
- Sprinkle the fried shallots on top of the dough.
- We are doing this at this stage so the dough will rise into the fried shallots and it will really stick. It will also help prevent the shallots from burning in the oven later.
- Cover with another baking tray or oiled plastic wrap.
- Let the dough proof at room temperature until doubled in size.
- This can take anywhere from 2 to 4 hours, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
- The warmer it is, the faster the dough will proof.
Topping and Baking
- Preheat the oven to 205°c.
- Once the dough has doubled up in size, uncover.
- Pour the remaining infused herb oil all over the dough.
- Break the garlic into small pieces and scatter.
- Slice the cherry tomatoes and arrange over top gently.
- Optionally you can place the chilies whole, or chopped.
- Oil your fingers well. Slowly and mindfully press down into the focaccia to dimple. We don't want to completely deflate the focaccia, so try to be gentle.
- Sprinkle with salt and then you're ready to bake.
- Place the tray on the middle shelf of your oven and bake for 15 minutes.
- Then rotate and bake for a further 15 minutes until the focaccia is golden.
- Remove from the tray and place to cool on a wire rack.
- Be sure to remove the parchment paper from the bottom to prevent the focaccia from becoming soggy.
- Let it cool completely before serving.
- Enjoy!
Notes:
- Unbleached bread flour will yield a focaccia with a nicer flavour, and a chewier bite. If you prefer your focaccia to be very soft and pillowy, use all purpose flour.
- Generally high quality artisan bread flour absorbs more water than regular all purpose flour, so bear that in mind when mixing the liquid with the flour.