Place the sake lees, rice, and water in a bottle and close the lid loosely. Keep the bottle at room temperature if in winter or in a refrigerator for one day to one week in summer. When bubbles start popping up, it’s a sign that fermentation and the starter are ready to use. (Even if you don’t see the active bubbles, it’s good enough if you can see the bubbles forming in the bottle looking from the side.)

You can also use a breadmaking machine. Try setting the machine to a preset course for baking natural yeast bread or French bread (with the timer set to four hours or longer).

You can adjust the amount of starter according to the amount specified in the preset courses programmed in the breadmaking machine. Experiment to find the optimal balance.

Place the starter, ground flour, salt, and water into a bowl. Mix them well and knead it until everything is well incorporated. Allow it to proof for half a day (or a full day) or until the dough rises around 1.5 times in size.

Cut the dough into two pieces, and then shape the pieces into balls. Let the dough rest for around 30 minutes. Cover the bowl with a cloth dampened with water to prevent the balls from drying up.

Reshape the dough into balls and place them on a baking pan. Spray on some water and leave them for a final proof at around 30°C for about an hour. The dough is ready when it rises around 1.5 times in size again.

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Score the dough with a sharp blade and spray water onto the surface. Bake it all at 200°C for 20 minutes and then at 180°C for another 10 minutes.

For those that want to skip making the starter, there is an alternative way to prepare the dough, provided that you have fresh sake lees that contains a lot of active yeast.

Simply combine three tablespoons of fresh sake lees with 150 cc of water, and then leave it all to rest for 10 minutes. Then, add the flour and knead the mix. Once the dough is ready, follow the same steps described above in PART 2. This bread will be slightly more dense and rough-textured than the bread made from the starter, but it tastes great and will come handy as dough for making pizza or naan.