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Pequod

South Side Thin

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Funny, but we're the 3rd Fong's. Started over in Des Moines. Folks bought a closed Chinese restaurant and wanted to keep the décor - and one thing lead to another! I've never seen folks here so excited about a restaurant opening. Today's the official opening day. I will wait a couple of weeks for the "new" to wear off before going to try it myself. 

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Thanks for posting your pizza dough recipe @Aussie Ora.  I asked for it because I was puzzling about why my more recent dough balls were not quite as plump.  Since asking for your recipe I have tried out the South Side Thin recipe that @Pequod includes in his post here.  It is more dense/has less hydration than the Ken Forkish recipes that I have tried so far - more work when kneading.  More importantly, I discovered two things as I prepared my ingredients for this recipe.  1.  I should have been multiplying my yeast quantities by 1.25 because I was using dried yeast and not instant dried yeast and 2.  my drug dealer scales for measuring small quantities had somehow changed mode from grams to carats and I was using far too small quantities of yeast in my more recent tries.  Dough with right amount of yeast and sausage with right amount of wine are now in fridge waiting for pizza night tomorrow.  Fingers crossed.  Looking forward to the authentic Chicago experience, with or without the paper delivery bags.  

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1 hour ago, tekobo said:

Thanks for posting your pizza dough recipe @Aussie Ora.  I asked for it because I was puzzling about why my more recent dough balls were not quite as plump.  Since asking for your recipe I have tried out the South Side Thin recipe that @Pequod includes in his post here.  It is more dense/has less hydration than the Ken Forkish recipes that I have tried so far - more work when kneading.  More importantly, I discovered two things as I prepared my ingredients for this recipe.  1.  I should have been multiplying my yeast quantities by 1.25 because I was using dried yeast and not instant dried yeast and 2.  my drug dealer scales for measuring small quantities had somehow changed mode from grams to carats and I was using far too small quantities of yeast in my more recent tries.  Dough with right amount of yeast and sausage with right amount of wine are now in fridge waiting for pizza night tomorrow.  Fingers crossed.  Looking forward to the authentic Chicago experience, with or without the paper delivery bags.  

Yes, this is completely different from quasi-Neapolitan styles...Forkish, NY style, etc. The dough is dense and you will use a rolling pin to roll it out flat. No lip! If baked and rested correctly, the bottom will be crisp. Must be cut square! Pie wedges are Neanderthal.

Did you make the sausage too, or using store bought?

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15 minutes ago, Pequod said:

The dough is dense and you will use a rolling pin to roll it out flat. No lip! If baked and rested correctly, the bottom will be crisp. Must be cut square! Pie wedges are Neanderthal.

Instructions received loud and clear.  Will transmit to The Husband too, in case he tries to vary.

15 minutes ago, Pequod said:

Did you make the sausage too, or using store bought?

Ha!  I ordered half a pig from a local farmer because I didn't have any pork shoulder, that is how weird/particular/cheap I am.  I cannot bear to buy sub-standard pork at inflated prices from the supermarket.  The downside is that you actually have to wait for the animal to be killed and hung and so I won't be getting the shoulder (and all of the rest of the half pig) until next Friday.  In the meantime I cut up a pork belly that I had, cutting out a lot of fat, to make the sausage as directed.  Probably still too fatty but I hope it will turn out OK.  

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29 minutes ago, tekobo said:

Instructions received loud and clear.  Will transmit to The Husband too, in case he tries to vary.

Ha!  I ordered half a pig from a local farmer because I didn't have any pork shoulder, that is how weird/particular/cheap I am.  I cannot bear to buy sub-standard pork at inflated prices from the supermarket.  The downside is that you actually have to wait for the animal to be killed and hung and so I won't be getting the shoulder (and all of the rest of the half pig) until next Friday.  In the meantime I cut up a pork belly that I had, cutting out a lot of fat, to make the sausage as directed.  Probably still too fatty but I hope it will turn out OK.  

Shoot for 70/30 to 80/20 ratio of meat to fat and you should be fine. If fattier than that, you'll probably want to pre-cook the sausage a bit to drain the excess fat, lest you end up with a huge grease slick under the cheese.

Can't wait to see the results!

I have four balls of this dough in the fridge as I speak. Back by popular demand, I'm baking up four of them tomorrow night.

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1 hour ago, Pequod said:

Can't wait to see the results!

I have four balls of this dough in the fridge as I speak. Back by popular demand, I'm baking up four of them tomorrow night.

No pressure then!  I am all in.  I have enough for four balls of dough in the fridge.  Off to London shortly so The Husband will be in charge of turning them into balls later today. His parents will be joining us for pizza night tomorrow so even more pressure to get this right.   I remember making Yorkshire puddings for my Yorkshire mother-in-law and getting them sooo disappointingly wrong  :smt021.  Happily she can't be from Yorkshire and Chicago at the same time so I won't have those expectations to satisfy.   

Heretical question: are there any other toppings allowed on this type of pizza?  I might need some back up or light relief if my sausage turns out to be just that little bit too fatty in spite of pre-cooking.  

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4 minutes ago, tekobo said:

No pressure then!  I am all in.  I have enough for four balls of dough in the fridge.  Off to London shortly so The Husband will be in charge of turning them into balls later today. His parents will be joining us for pizza night tomorrow so even more pressure to get this right.   I remember making Yorkshire puddings for my Yorkshire mother-in-law and getting them sooo disappointingly wrong  :smt021.  Happily she can't be from Yorkshire and Chicago at the same time so I won't have those expectations to satisfy.   

Heretical question: are there any other toppings allowed on this type of pizza?  I might need some back up or light relief if my sausage turns out to be just that little bit too fatty in spite of pre-cooking.  

This particular sausage is the traditional. But other traditional toppings are acceptable: Pepperoni, onions, bell peppers, etc. Unlike Neapolitan styles, you typically go heavy on the sauce and toppings, but keep the cheese at 8 oz. or less.

Here's the menu for my favorite south side pizza place, although their sauce is much sweeter than the canonical south side pie. Consider this the list of acceptable toppings:

https://www.aureliospizza.com/menu/

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16 minutes ago, jonj said:

Surely you jest! Taco?! Hawaiian?!

Oh no, Pequod, no!  

:???:

Heavens, no! Aurelio's gone commercial?? Worse...California??? Or Cedar RAPIDS????? :shock:

Let's revise that to: First column of meats, and first two columns of veggies. Forget the "signature" pizzas.

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On 5/10/2018 at 6:02 PM, tekobo said:

Thanks for posting your pizza dough recipe @Aussie Ora.  I asked for it because I was puzzling about why my more recent dough balls were not quite as plump.  Since asking for your recipe I have tried out the South Side Thin recipe that @Pequod includes in his post here.  It is more dense/has less hydration than the Ken Forkish recipes that I have tried so far - more work when kneading.  More importantly, I discovered two things as I prepared my ingredients for this recipe.  1.  I should have been multiplying my yeast quantities by 1.25 because I was using dried yeast and not instant dried yeast and 2.  my drug dealer scales for measuring small quantities had somehow changed mode from grams to carats and I was using far too small quantities of yeast in my more recent tries.  Dough with right amount of yeast and sausage with right amount of wine are now in fridge waiting for pizza night tomorrow.  Fingers crossed.  Looking forward to the authentic Chicago experience, with or without the paper delivery bags.  

Dodgy scales are the worst .to me pizza is like takeaway I want pizza tonight . That's why my recipes are simple and taste so much better than takeaway.never got into the lets prep the dough six months before dinner thing lol.but I want to try the soth side .maybe I'm to slack lol

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26 minutes ago, Aussie Ora said:

Dodgy scales are the worst .to me pizza is like takeaway I want pizza tonight . That's why my recipes are simple and taste so much better than takeaway.never got into the lets prep the dough six months before dinner thing lol.but I want to try the soth side .maybe I'm to slack lol

I'm a six months in advance pizza person - LOL 

I started my dough process last night to have pizza for Saturday or most likely Sunday lunch. 

 

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3 hours ago, Aussie Ora said:

Dodgy scales are the worst .to me pizza is like takeaway I want pizza tonight . That's why my recipes are simple and taste so much better than takeaway.never got into the lets prep the dough six months before dinner thing lol.but I want to try the soth side .maybe I'm to slack lol

Try the no-knead version of the Thin Crust recipe. Minimal work. Just mix it up, throw it in the fridge, ball it the next day, then back in the fridge for 48 hours. Just bring to room temp for at least 2 hours before rolling it out.

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11 minutes ago, tony b said:

There are "just in time" pizza dough recipes that work pretty good, too. 

https://www.cooksillustrated.com/articles/614-one-hour-pizza?incode=MCSCD00L0&ref=new_search_experience_2

As a quasi-Neapolitan or NY Style, yes. As a Chicago Thin, no. Very different style of dough. Chicago Deep Dish and Thin are both more biscuit-like, lots of oil, and hold their shape. NY and Neapolitan are bready, soft, floppy...limp. Both good in their own right, but extremely different.

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