My Bread Baking Frenzy

I caught the bug again! Not ordinary flu bug, but bugs that sent me conducting one failed experiment after another, again and again in my kitchen.

I have been in a bread baking frenzy over the past couple of weeks. I got hooked into making different loaf breads, but so far none has met my expectations. First, I made a matcha red bean swirl loaf, using another (烫种) scalded dough recipe. I even put in that extra effort to cook the red beans. The loaf ended up looking very pretty, but failed my taste-test. The texture was too dense! I sensed trouble coming when the dough appeared to be quite stiff while I was kneading it. I blamed it on the recipe, and decided to try it again using the tangzhong, water roux method (汤种). Instead of making swirl loaf, I mixed the red beans into the dough. Everything went well except for the final proofing. I left the dough to proof for 2 hours and it still didn't fill up my pullman pan. I popped it in the oven, hoping the oven spring will expand the loaf a little. Well, the miracle that I was hopping for did not occur. The loaf did not even expand a single bit upon baking. I was left with a short and dense loaf.

You would think I should have given up by now. No, I didn't. I am quite surprised by my own stubborn persistence. Unless you have done it before, kneading dough occasionally by hand is therapeutic to most people, but doing it every time, means a lot of hard work, especially when you have to wrestle with a wet and sticky mess . Despite my aching arms and shoulders, I continued my quest for a perfect homemade loaf. I tried another tangzhong loaf recipe. This time I made a black sesame seeds loaf, thinking that maybe the red beans had 'broken' the bread gluten while I was trying to shape the dough, causing it not to rise well. So since sesame seeds are smaller grains, it would not do any damage to the bread. Alas, the tragic history repeats itself! The loaf came out of the oven dense and short.

After tasting a small piece of it, my elder child remarked, "It tastes like beer." To cover up my embarrassment, I told him 'that's because beer is also made with yeast, your know'. I learned the lesson not to over proof the dough, especially during the second rise, unless I intend to make a tiger beer bread ;) I also finally realised that I am not using the right amount of dough to fill up my bread tin. In order to fill up the tin, the dough should weigh at least 600g, or as a rough gauge, I should follow recipes that calls for flour amount that is at least 300-350g. Since I can't feed the ducks with my bread, I had no choice but to feed the bin, which I deem as one of the most annoying thing that could happen in my baking repertoire!

I was itching to make another loaf this week, but dismissed the idea as I strongly believe the Chinese sayings "祸不单行" or the English equivalent, 'bad luck comes in 3s'. I am glad that I stayed away from loaf bread as I managed to make a decent bread roll yesterday :D

This soft and yummy log is made using none other than the tangzhong method. It is amazing how a single ingredient can make a whole lot of difference. What I am referring to, is those spring onions dotted all over the bread roll. Spring onions smells and taste really pungent when raw, however, just like garlic, when it comes in contact with heat, the aroma that it releases makes it such a delightful experience even though I was standing vigilantly in front of the hot oven, keeping a close watch.

It did take a few extra steps to make these pork floss rolls, but the effort was worthwhile. At least I was rewarded with a tray of edible buns. When my kids got home from school, my elder child wanted to have one right after lunch, but I told him to wait till tea time. These rolls tasted soft and delicious and I noted there was a slight chew to it, probably because of the way the dough is made. We had them for tea and breakfast the next day. The rolls stayed soft over night and they definitely did not taste like beer ;)




Seaweed Pork Floss Rolls (65degC TangZhong)

Ingredients
(makes 6 rolls)

water roux:

20g bread flour
100ml water

dough:

195g bread flour
90g cake flour
30g caster sugar
12g milk powder
6g salt
6g instant yeast
60g egg, lightly beaten
65ml water
75g water roux (tangzhong)
45g unsalted butter

fillings:

chopped spring onions
sesame seeds
seaweed pork floss
mayonnaise

to make tang zhong:

• Place 20g bread flour in a saucepan. Add 100ml water, mix till smooth, making sure there are no lumps of flour. Cook over medium to low heat, stirring constantly with a hand whisk to prevent it from burning. Within 1 to 2 mins, the mixture will start to thicken, stop when you see traces in the mixture for every stir you make with the hand whisk. (Take a look at the video clip here. ) The 65degC tang zhong is ready. Immediately transfer the hot tang zhong into a bowl and cover it with a cling wrap, making sure the cling wrap sticks onto the surface of the mixture. This is to prevent a film from forming on the surface. Leave to cool completely before using it. Measure 75g for the recipe, there will be a little bit of leftover.

to make dough (by hand):

see video here on kneading by hand

• Mix all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add in the egg and tang zhong. Reserve about 20ml of water and add the rest into the mixing bowl. Mix the ingredients with hand and slowly form into a rough dough. Add in a little of the reserved water if the mixture is too dry.
• Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Knead the dough till smooth. Add in the remaining water a little at a time, knead well after each addition. (This way, the dough will not be too wet and sticky). Use up all the water. The whole process should take about 10mins.
• Knead in the butter. Continue to knead the dough until it no longer sticks to your hand, becomes smooth and elastic. This should take about another 20 to 30 mins. Do the window pane test: pinch a piece of the dough, pull and stretch it. It should be elastic, and can be pulled away into a thin membrane without tearing/breaking apart easily.
• Place dough in a lightly greased (use vegetable oil or butter) mixing bowl, cover with cling wrap and let proof in room temperature (around 28 to 30 degC) for about 40mins or an hour, or until double in bulk.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and give a few light kneading to press out the gas. Roll into a round dough. Cover with a damp cloth or cling wrap and let the dough rest for 15mins.
• Roll out the dough into a rectangular shape to fit a 30cmx40cm baking tray (I used a 10" by 14" tray). Place dough in baking tray(lined with parchment paper). Cover and let it proof for around 30~40 minutes.
• Use a fork to poke holes all over the surface of the dough (this is to ensure the bread will not puff up too much during baking). Brush with egg wash then sprinkle with chopped onions and sesame seeds. Bake at 170~180degC for about 15 minutes (do not over bake).

to assemble:

• Remove bread from tray and leave to cool. Invert the bread on a parchment paper. Cut a few slits along the longer edge of the bread, make the slits only half-way through the bread do not cut through. The slits will make rolling up the bread easier.

• Spread a thin layer of mayonnaise on the surface and sprinkle with pork floss. From the longer edge, roll up like a swiss roll. Wrap the bread roll with the parchment paper. Secure and leave it for about 30mins so that the roll can stay in its shape without unrolling. (I tried to tape it down, but the tape couldn't stick onto the parchment paper, so I had to use stripes of paper to secure the roll.) Trim away the edges and cut the bread into 6 portions. Spread the cut sides with some mayonnaise and coat with pork floss.
Recipe source: 65度C汤种面包, 陈郁芬