Sunday 9 November 2014

luncheon meat buns

I have not been able to update my blog recently as I was caught up working on the itinerary for our year end holidays. After weeks of googling the internet, reading travel reviews, guidebooks and scrutinising google maps, I have finally settled the accommodations, car rental and even bought the travel insurance for our trip. I just need to tie up some loose ends and work on the minor details. I hope I am able to get back to blogging and update with a few more posts before we leave for our holidays.



I made these tangzhong bread buns quite some time back...



I couldn't help but to share it although they are nothing fancy...just ordinary bread buns wrapped with one of my childhood favourites...canned luncheon meat ;)



Beside shaping them into the usual round buns, I have also wrapped some with thick slices of luncheon meat, yum!

One plus point about using luncheon meat as fillings for homemade buns is that there is no preparation required other than slicing or mashing the luncheon meat.



I am becoming a die hard fan of tang zhong(water roux) bread dough as I find the recipe rather straight forward especially if you use a bread machine or a stand mixer to knead the dough. Bread buns made with tang zhong method do keep well and the texture remains soft even after a couple of days. Besides luncheon meat, this bread dough recipe is great for any other type of savoury fillings such as char siew,  sardines or curry potato buns. The next time I were to made these again, I will put in a little extra effort to use a mixture of luncheon meat and mashed potatoes as fillings :)



Luncheon Meat Bread Buns (午餐肉小餐包)

Ingredients:
(makes 12)

for the buns:
tang zhong (water-roux):
20g bread flour
100ml water

bread dough:
195g bread flour
90g cake flour
12g milk powder
30g caster sugar
6g salt
6g instant yeast

60g egg, lightly beaten
65g water
75g tang zhong (water-roux)

45g unsalted butter

for the fillings:
some mashed (or sliced) luncheon meat


Method:

to make tang zhong:
* Place 20g bread flour in a saucepan. Add 100ml water, mix with a hand whisk till smooth, making sure there are no lumps of flour. Cook over medium to low heat, stirring constantly with the 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. The 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.

to make the bread dough:
* Place bread flour, cake flour, milk powder, sugar, salt, yeast, egg, water and tang zhong (use 75g) in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Let the mixer knead the dough on high speed until the ingredients come together to form a dough, takes about 8 to 10 mins. Add in the butter and continue to knead for another 15~20mins until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. (Upon adding the butter, the dough will become very wet/slack again, add some flour if it remains slack after 10 mins of kneading. Depending on the type of flour used, the dough may still stick to the sides of the mixing bowl after 15-20mins of kneading. If this happens, continue to knead for another 5mins or so, stop the machine, oil or dust hands with flour and proceed to remove the dough from the bowl.

* Place dough in a lightly greased (use vegetable oil or butter) mixing bowl, cover with cling wrap or a damp cloth and let proof in room temperature (around 28 to 30 degC) for about one hour, or until double in bulk.

* Remove the dough from the bowl and give a few light kneading to press out the gas in the dough. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions (about 45g each). Roll each dough into smooth rounds, cover with a damp cloth or cling wrap and let the doughs rest for 10mins.

* On a lightly floured work surface, flatten each dough into a round disc. Press out any trapped air as you flatten the dough. Wrap each dough with one heaped tablespoon of mashed luncheon meat. Pinch and seal the seam tightly. If using sliced luncheon meat, roll dough to form a longish oval shape. Wrap dough with sliced luncheon meat, pinch and seal the seam tightly.

* Place seam side down on a greased (or lined with parchment paper) baking tray. Space doughs two inches apart to allow them to expand. Cover with damp cloth or cling wrap and leave doughs to proof for the second time for about 40mins, or until double in size.

* Bake in pre-heated oven at 180 deg C for 12 to 15 mins or until golden brown (if necessary, tent the surface with foil if the top browns too quickly closer to the baking time). Remove from oven and transfer to wire track to let cool. Once cool, store immediately in an airtight container.

Recipe source: 65度C汤种面包, 陈郁芬

16 comments:

The Experimental Cook said...

My husband only goes for anything-tangzhong-bread nowadays, all the better when there is any kind of meat inside. This recipe will make his day / dinner !

PH said...

Yummy! Luncheon meat is my childhood favourite too. I really need to get started on baking buns. I say that all the time LOL!

Happy Homebaker said...

Your husband is so lucky to be able to enjoy your homemade bread everyday :)

Happy Homebaker said...

Once you get the engine running, I am sure you will keep making buns...bread making is so addictive!!

mui mui said...

Hi HHB,
I have not try tang zhong method before.
I am admiring your TZ bread although they looks simple.
Simple is beautiful. Luncheon meat is my childhood favorite too.
Thanks for sharing.
mui

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi mui, thanks for your kind comments. Hope you get around to try the tang zhong method, it is not difficult, just that you may find the dough a bit wet and sticky to handle.

Stephanie said...

Hi, 20g of flour with 100ml of water yields how much tangzhong? The balance sufficient to use for 2nd batch or just threw away?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, it is only enough for 1 batch. The balance is not much.

Unknown said...

Hi, can I replace milk powder with milk? Same amount?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi you can't replace it with milk which is in liquid form. You may omit or replace with flour.

Idy said...

Hi, I chanced upon your blog while researching for recipes. Your luncheon meat buns are so tasty! I am rather new to bread making. May I know which brand of milk powder do you use? Thanks for sharing!

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, I used my children's milk power, nespray.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Bread or cake flour also can?

Happy Homebaker said...

You can replace with cake flour, same amount.