Sakekasu okara pan / sake lees soy rolls

Small rolls featuring double soy -- okara soybean pulp and soy flour. These sake lees rolls taste great with savory dishes. Sakekasu's aroma works as a great accent to meals. Low in net carbs and sodium, these are a great option to balance your overall diet on routine basis. And thanks to the high fiber content, one roll can be quite filling.

Whole recipe (6 rolls):
983 calories; 81.5 g protein; 47.9 g fat; 62.9 g carbohydrate; 28.6 g net carbs; 395 mg sodium; 47 mg cholesterol; 28.1 g fiber

1 roll:
164 calories; 13.6 g protein; 8.0 g fat; 10.5 g carbohydrate; 4.8 g net carbs; 66 mg sodium; 8 mg cholesterol; 4.7 g fiber


<Ingredients>

60 g soy flour
75 cc water
2.5 g instant dry yeast

40 g fine dried okara soybean pulp
15 g almond flour
15 g flaxseed meal
55 g vital wheat gluten
7 g erythritol
0.8 g guar gum

3/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
25 cc (1 2/3 tbsp) milk
25 g sakekasu sake lees
2 tsp shiokoji salted rice malt
20 g unsalted butter

<Directions>
1.
Bring all wet ingredients (including butter) to room temperature. If cold, place them near the warm stove, or microwave for several seconds or longer, as necessary.

2.

Microwave 75 cc water for 30 seconds to bring to boil.

Add to soy flour, and mix well.
 

While still warm, add dry yeast, and mix well.

3.

Meanwhile, in a large prep bowl, mix well all other dry ingredients (from okara through guar gum in above list).

4.

Add soy flour + yeast mixture and other wet ingredients, other than butter, to dry ingredient mixture, and mix well.

When everything is almost incorporated, add butter, and mix well.

When butter is basically incorporated, put dough on pastry board.

5.

Knead.
Throw against the board from time to time, and continue kneading for 10+ minutes.

The dough is loose and a little sticky at the beginning, but becomes plump and bouncy like playdough as you knead.

Form neat ball shape, place in large prep bowl, cover, and let sit until dough size doubles.

6.

When dough doubles, empty it on pastry board, divide into 6.

Form each piece into round or oval balls, place with closure at the bottom, cover, and sit for 15-20 minutes.

7.

Gently roll each ball into a 20 cm string, and tie to form a knot.

Cover, and let sit until size almost doubles.

8.
Preheat oven to 200 C/400 F.

9.

Bake for 11-12 minutes.

 Cool on rack.

<Notes>

• Sakekasu's taste comes through relatively clearly. If a more subtle taste is preferred, start with 1/2 of the amount. 
  
• Alternatively, adding some nuts neutralizes the sake lees taste. Photo at right shows a walnut version: 25g walnuts are lightly toasted, chopped and added to the dough. It's also slightly sweeter (10g erythritol), which works great to soften the taste. When hazelnut meal instead of almond flour is used, whole-recipe nutrition figures are 1160 calories; 83.8 g protein; 66.2 g fat; 68.7 g carbohydrate; 29.8 g net carbs; 390 mg sodium; 47 mg cholesterol; 29.8 g fiber. The numbers for one roll are 193 calories; 14.0 g protein; 11.0 g fat; 11.4 g carbohydrate; 5.0 g net carbs; 65 mg sodium; 8 mg cholesterol; 5.0 g fiber.
• Adding boiling water (and vinegar) eliminates the unpleasant smell of soy flour. It will not make the soy flour gooey, as it has no gluten.
• For dough conditioner, I opt for a lower-sodium choice: guar gum contains 2 mg sodium per tablespoon (10 g), and xanthan gum contains 260 mg sodium per tablespoon (9 g), both according to Bob's Red Mill. 
  

(Last updated: January 26, 2016)