I have developed a tiny little kimchi addiction since I made my first batch a few months ago. The stuff is spicing up a lot of my quick meals at the moment: kimchi fried rice, kimchi filled crêpes, kimchi grilled cheese, kimchi on fried egg sandwiches, kimchi next to cheese waffles, kimchi and sweet potato soup…

I really don’t mind the extra veggies, vitamins and flavor over the winter, but I fear that things are starting to get out of hand. What’s next? Wearing colors? Listening to K-pop?

Well, the kimchi managed to sneak its way into my most sacred area of the kitchen: my bread baking. I was starting a dough and lunch (kimchi fried noodles) at the same time, things mixed where no mixing was intended…

… and thus, the kimchi focaccia was born. It’s a weird thing that I’m not sure should exist and I have no idea what came over me to do this. It makes mighty good fried egg sandwiches though. Topped with fermented curry kohlrabi and a few sprouts this time.

I really need to cut down on the k!

To make this wonderful, exciting kimchi focaccia (and I’m sure you can’t wait to do it 😂) you need:

• 160g Lievito Madre
• 250g lukewarm liquid (water mixed with the dripped off kimchi juice)
• 200g bread flour or first clear (wheat 1050 in Germany)
• 200g whole wheat flour
• 150g chopped kimchi
• 10g salt
• olive oil for later
• salt flakes and chili flakes

When chopping the kimchi, make sure that you don’t chop it too small and let the liquid drip off for about half an hour, otherwise you’ll end up with a very goopy dough. You can give the liquid back into the kimchi jar or fill it up with water for the bread. It’s what I did. It gives the bread a nice color and some extra flavor.

Dissolve the lievito in the warm liquid, then mix in the flour and salt. Add the kimchi last. Knead until you have a smooth dough. It’s very soft, so kneading by machine is much easier than by hand. Don’t let the stickiness fool you into adding more flour. Things will get super dry otherwise.

Once done, prep a baking pan with parchment and place the dough in there. Make sure it’s equally distributet. Wet hands work best.

My pan is 24,5 x 31,5 cm and 2,5cm deep (about 9×12, 1 inch deep)

Let the dough double in volume in a warm place. When it’s risen, pre-heat the oven to 220°C.

Before you bake the focaccia, brush it generously with olive oil and sprinkle it with salt flakes and chili flakes. Since the dough is a bit sturdier than the super fluffy white focaccia, I didn’t poke it with my fingers. I had no idea if it would come back from it.

Bake for about 20 minutes with steam.

I already told you that the bread makes great egg sandwiches. It’s also good with soups and salads.