Recipes of Arkadia: Chen Wu’s Seed Loaf

Food — growing it, preparing it, eating it — is a central part of life in the Arkadia space colony. Over the next few weeks I’m sharing recipes for some of the food mentioned in the book.

Chen Wu, one of Arkadia’s volunteer bakers, doesn’t think of himself as lazy — he’s efficient. He makes a lot of bread, so he does it the easy way: by letting time do the work. 

Recipes of Arkadia: Chen Wu's Seed Loaf














Servings

Prep Time



1loaf

10minutes









Cook Time

Passive Time



50minutes

18hours















Servings

Prep Time



1loaf

10minutes









Cook Time

Passive Time



50minutes

18hours













Ingredients








4cups

flour

1tsp

salt

1/2tsp

yeast

2cups

water

1/2cup

seeds(flax, sunflower, chia, sesame, whatever)










Instructions









Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl and stir them up.



Add 2 cups of warm water, mix until you get a damp, doughy ball. You can do this all with a wooden spoon, there’s no need to knead! Cover with a cloth and let it sit overnight.



The next day, pour the dough into a loaf pan and bake at 220C/425F for 40-60 minutes.











Recipe Notes

This seed loaf is my real-life everyday bread, using 3 cups of white flour, 1 cup of whole wheat and flax seed or meal. I’ve let the dough sit for more than 24 hours and as little as 8 hours. Longer is better, but the bread has always turned out.

You can use more or fewer seeds; I wouldn't go with more than a cup, though.

This recipe is based on Jim Lahey’s No-Work Bread, from How To Cook Everything.