Instead of making steamed pao/bread, I decided to make experiment with my leftover bapao flour. Why? Because the idea of steaming a few batches of 4 steamed bread for 1.5 hour, exclusive the preparing and proofing time, is already killing me.
So, I am going to try baking it instead and I used the water roux method to make the dough. I managed to squeeze some baking time yesterday after we cycled to the city and back (it was around 16 km). As a note: the cycling was not my idea, it was my husband's idea. He said, the weather was very nice and after a few months of cold, wet and windy winter, it was time for us to go out and we did not have to think about paying the parking ticket. Yes, he was right about not having to pay the expensive parking ticket in the city center, however, how could I trapped by the idea of cycling for 16 km, after the day before we have cycled also for around 12 km to the market.
Anyway, I was glad that we have a kind of trailer that we can attached behind the bicycle so the children could sit there and if they fall asleep, I would not worry whether they sit safely on the bike or not.
After we arrived home, I prepared food for our dinner and squeezed in some time to prepare the dough. I was also baking a potato dish for the day after. To accelerate the proofing time, I put the dough in the oven for a while, while the oven is cooling down after I baked my potato dish. It worked great, the proofing was quite fast. But, be careful not to cook the bread in the hot oven.
For the filling, I used a ready to use bulgogi marinade. My husband loves the filling better than my usual BBQ pork filling. And the children finished their breakfast (and lunch) today. I am also happy that we have extra snack stock.
This is the recipe I used.
Ingredients
Filling
600 gr pork (I do not use lean pork, we love it a bit fatty, but not too fatty) - if you do not eat pork, change it with other meat
Bulgogi marinade
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
pepper to taste
1/2 tsp 5 spice powder
a dash of sesame oil
1-2 tsp of corn starch
3 tbsp water
How to make the filling
1. Marinade the meat for a few hours and baked it for 30 minutes in the middle of the oven, 200Celcius.
2. Let it cool and cut the meat into small cubes.
3. Cook the meat again in a pan/wok, add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, 5-spice powder, pepper and sesame oil.s
4. Dilute the corn starch with the water and add into the pan.
5. Let it cool and keep it in the refrigerator while you prepare the dough.
Dough Ingredients
For the tangzhong (water roux) - Note: my grandmother called it "biang" in Indonesians
- 50 g bread flour
- 200 ml milk
For the bread dough
- 125 ml milk
- 7 gram instant yeast
- 65 g sugar
- 450 g bread flour*
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs, medium size
- all of the tangzhong (water roux)
- 50 g melted butter, cooled
To brush
Method
1. Prepare the tangzhong (water-roux), in advanced. Mix the bread flour and milk in a pan, until it is well mixed.
2. Cook the mixture over medium-low heat. Stir it constantly with a whisk or spatula until it becomes thicker. When you see lines behind the whisk or spatula trail, remove it from the heat.
3. Place the tangzhong in a small bowl and cover it with cling film (plastic wrap). The plastic wrap should stick directly onto the roux to prevent it from drying. Let it cool for a few hours or put it in the refrigerator until you are ready to make the dough.
4. To make the dough, combine all dough ingredient (note: this can be done because the yeast used here is instant yeast) except the butter in the stand mixer bowl. Add the tangzhong/water-roux into the bowl. Using the hook attachment, knead the ingredients until you get a dough form and the gluten begins to develop.
5. Knead in the butter until it the dough is smooth and does not stick to the wall of the bowl and to your hand. To double check if the gluten has developed enough, you can stretch the dough. If the dough can be stretched easily to form a thin membrane, and you can light through the membrane, then the dough is ready.
6. Shape the dought into a ball shape and lightly oil the dough (I usually forget to oil it and it still works good for me). Put it back into the bowl, cover with cling film (plastic wrap) and place it in the refrigerator to proof until the next day or put it somewhere warm until it's doubled in size. As an alternative, proof it in a warm environment (the best is 28 degree Celcius) for 1 hour, or until it's doubled in size.
7. After the dough rise double in size, punch down the dough and roll into a long shape. Cut into 16 equal size pieces (around 55-60 grams per piece).
8. Roll the dough into a thin layer and fill in the dough with filling.
9. Cover the filling with the dough and pinch the edges and press it to make sure that the filling will not leak out.
10. Carefully pinch up the edges and press together, ensuring the filling is well sealed.
11. Place the pressed side down onto the baking trays lined with baking paper. Cover them with damp tea towel and let them rest for around 1 hour for last proving. (I sometimes use cling wrap to cover them and keep them in a warm cabinet. At least that method works for me).
12. Preheat oven to 180°C.
13. Brush the top of the bread with beaten egg and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. I usually bake two trays with upper and below heat sources and exchange the positions of the trays halfway the baking time.
