the kitchen runner: Sesame Bao :)

fist pump in the air!!!! ok fine, half way pump in the air. :D Originally, this sesame bao (sesame bun) was suppose to be "bor lor bao" - pineapple bun, hong kong style. What happened? Well the proofing of the dough took sooo long that my friend and I ended up baking up the "pineapple pastry" portion and made them as cookies instead. :D :D When the dough FINALLY did proofed, I had no choice but to simply bake the bao as it is.

What makes this bao so different than any other bread recipe? The "tangzhong method." This method is magic and is what makes your bread taste light, soft & fluffy even after a few days. Homemade amateur bread, while great and all, usually goes stale very quickly. That's what happened to my first and second loft I made years ago. So I when I came across this method, I knew I had to give it a try. I did today and I am totally in love with this. Best part is, to make this paste, it was ridiculously easy. Nothing to be afraid of at all!!

To make this bao the first time, I stumbled upon "Pig Pig's Corner" http://www.pigpigscorner.com/2011/01/pineapple-bun-bo-luo-bao-by-christines.html

I can totally vouch for the recipe on the site. But do allow for a longer proofing time of the dough than stated in the recipe. The end result was well worth the effort. ;)) Light and fluffy just like a typical bao you get at chinese bakeries!!! I can't wait to make other versions of this......char siu bao, egg custard bao....

Just to tease you, here's how my bao turned out!!! There's only four left. :P shhhhhh!

Now that you have some idea of how this bao will look like after it comes out of the oven, let's start!

First, let's start by making the "tangzhong paste" In a small pot, add 1/3 cup of bread flour, 1/2 cup milk, & 1/2 cup water. Over low heat, using a spatula, stir in the flour into the liquid until there are no clumps. Continue to stir. and stir and stir. Liquid will eventually thicken up so keep stirring! You will know you are done when lines form on the paste with the spatula. It will look like a smooth paste. Quickly turn off the heat and transfer onto a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap right on top of paste and set aside until ready for use. By the way, this method is used to make the sweet steamed white buns that we asians love sooo much. :) You can guarantee there will be a post on such bao too!!

Time to make the dough! I halved the ingredients based from Pig Pig's recipe.

Ingredients - yields 6 buns
175g bread flour
35g caster sugar (super fine sugar but NOT icing sugar :D _
2g salt
28g whisked egg
5g milk powder
3g instant dry yeast
60g tangzhong paste
63ml milk
15g butter at room temperature

#1. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl, bread flour, milk powder, salt, yeast, sugar.
#2. Milk
#3. Tangzhoug paste
#4. Whisked egg
#5. Butter -soften

In a separate bowl, combine milk, tangzhoug paste and egg and roughly whisk together. In the dry ingredient bowl, make a well in the middle and pour wet ingredients in. Next, make sure your counter and hands are clean and dry. It's going to get sticky from here on out! using your hands, combine wet and dry ingredients together. Add in the butter into the dough and knead together. excuse the blurry pic! but as you can see, the dough is super sticky!

Continue to knead and knead. for 10 - 15 mins at least!

Next, dust flour onto the counter, and begin to slam the dough onto the counter. Pick it up and slam again. Repeat. hand knead, Slam, knead slam until dough becomes smooth and no longer sticky.

Your reward will come soon... ;) Once your dough is ready, place dough in a clean, greased bowl and cover with cloth or cling wrap and place in contained space, microwave or oven. Allow dough to rise double its original size. This may take a couple of hours. To test if the dough has risen enough, cover your index finger with flour, stick finger in middle of dough. if the dough does not disappear, presto!! If the hole shrinks, allow to proof until ready.

Deflate the risen dough and divide into 6 - 7 buns. Set aside on pan and over with cling wrap and allow to rest in the oven (not on) for 15 - 30 mins. Next, deflate each bun, round into a nice ball and replace back onto pan. Cover again and allow dough to proof again for another 1hr. Once the dough has risen again, take out of oven. Preheat the oven to 360 F.

Brush each dough with egg wash and sprinkle on sesame seeds. Bake for 20mins. Oh boy! yumyumum!!! each the first one with garlic spread or buter. You'll enjoy it. Trust me!