Tuesday, September 28, 2010

A Loaf of White Bread with TangZhong Method (白方包--湯種法)

White Bread with TangZhong Method


There are many recipes and methods of making bread.  Ever since I discovered how amazing this TangZhong Method (湯種法) is, I never switched back to the old recipes.  TangZhong method was originated from Japan, to make soft and fluffy bread.  The most amazing part is, the bread made with this method stays soft and fluffy even after a few days.  Simply reheat the slice of bread/bun in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds, you’ll have a warm, soft and fluffy bun on hand, just like it’s fresh out of the oven.

  White Bread with TangZhong Method

Basically, the TangZhong method is to mix 1 part of bread flour with 5 parts of water (by weight) at 65°C (149 °F) to form a paste/wet dough.  At 65°C, the gluten in the bread flour and water mixture would absorb the moisture and become leavened.  Thus, when the TangZhong is added into other ingredients of a bread dough, it will be heightened and produce fluffier bread.


White Bread with TangZhong Method


With the basic TangZhong bread recipe, you can wrap the dough with any ingredients you preferred, the sky is the limit.  Whether sweet or savory, or simply just white toast, they’ll all be wonderful.  With the TangZhong bread recipe, I’ve made Hong Kong Bakery style hot dog buns, ham and cheese rolls, crab and sweet corn buns, coconut custards loaf, sesame paste buns, BBQ Pork Buns, etc.  The simple white loaf is the one I always go back to make more. 


White Bread with TangZhong Method

It’s soft and fluffy, melt in your mouth goodness.  It has a hint of sweetness and buttery flavor.  Look at the air bubbles in between the bread, it’s lovely.  You can slather it with butter, your favorite preserves, wrap your kind of meat or veggies in between 2 slices….or just like me, eat it plain!  :)  Yes, you really don’t need anything with this bread, it’s that good!  Go give it a try and you’ll fall in love with this recipe, just like I did.


Update:  I have updated this recipe and included a step-by-step Youtube video tutorial as well.  Please check out the updated post and recipe at the link below:
http://utry.it/2015/05/how-to-make-sandwich-bread-tangzhong.html




White Bread (Loaf) with TangZhong Method (白方包--湯種法):
Printable Recipe

 
Makes a 9x5-inch Loaf


TangZhong 湯種 Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Boiling Water
1/4 Cup Bread Flour


Bread Dough Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Warm Milk
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
3 Tablespoon Sugar
3 Tablespoon Melted Butter
1 1/2 Cup Bread Flour*
1 1/3 Teaspoon Active Dry Yeast


Egg Wash Ingredients (optional):
1 Beaten Egg
1 Teaspoon water


To Make The TangZhong 湯種:
Place bread flour in a small bowl, pour boiling water over the bread flour and stir quickly with a fork to combine until no lumps.
Wrap mixture (it'll be a very wet dough) with plastic wrap, form dough in ball/round shape and leave in refrigerator overnight.


To Make The Bread:

1. Take out the TangZhong 湯種 from the fridge at least an hour before use (I usually leave it on countertop until it's room temperature).

2. In a bread machine, pour in ingredient in this order, warm milk, TangZhong 湯種, salt, sugar, butter, bread flour and yeast. Set bread machine to dough setting according to its user menu.

3. When dough is ready, take it out from bread machine and punch it a few times to deflate it. Divide dough into 4 equal portions and shape them into balls. Leave them in a warm place to rest 15-20 mins.

4. Knead each dough ball a few times and shape each into an oval shape. Place them diagonally into a 9x5-inch loaf pan. Let dough proof the 2nd round for 45 mins in a warm and moist place.

5. Preheat oven 355°F. Brush egg wash on top (optional) and bake for 23-25 mins

Tips: When proofing the dough, make sure it's in a warm place and covered with wet towel or plastic wrap so it won't dry out. I usually place it in the oven with a bowl of hot water.

Note: The dough setting on my bread machine kneads the dough for 27 minutes and keeps the dough warm to proof for 1 hour.  If you don’t have a bread machine and knead your dough by hand, make sure you knead the dough for 15 to 20 minutes (depends on your strength and speed) and proof it for a hour until the dough double in size before you move on to step 3 from above.)

*If the weather in your area is rather humid, fell free to add up to 1/4 cup of bread flour so the dough, it will be easier to handle.  I usually look at the dough in the bread machine to determine if additional flour is needed.

23 comments:

  1. /Users/suzanneaiken/Desktop/IMG_3490.JPG

    I don't know if the above picture comes out but this was my bread when finished!!! Thanks Amy.

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  2. @ Suzanne: I would love to see your creation. Unfortunately, I couldn't see the picture from the link above. Please email it to me at
    amy [AT] utry [DOT] it Thank you and I look forward to seeing your lovely creation! :) Have a wonderful day and have fun baking!

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  3. I am definitely going to try this! Thanks!

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  4. This looks so good! Now, I am looking for a bread machine :o)

    Blessings & Aloha!

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  5. Hi Amy, the bread looks really delicious, however, i dont have a bread machine and i am not really sure when i can have one, can you tell me how to do this manually, I would really appreciate it.. my email address is inglarge@yahoo.com

    Thanks and looking forward for your reply.

    Ing Large

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  6. @ Ing: Thank you for your interest in this recipe. Here are the steps if you don't have a bread machine. I wanted to post the steps here and email a cope to you as well just in case another reader has the same question as yours. :) Here are the steps:

    A) In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients: flour, salt, sugar and yeast. In a separate bowl, slightly whisk the warm milk and Tangzhong until well combined.

    B) On a large working surface, pour the dry ingredients mixture and make a well in the center. Then add the Tangzhong mixture into the well of the dry ingredients.

    C)Knead until you get a dough shape and gluten has developed, then knead in the butter. Please note, it’d be quite messy at this stag (that's why I usually let the bread machine do this part). Keep kneading until the dough is smooth, elastic, and not sticky.

    D) To test if the dough is ready, stretch it. If it forms a thin “membrane”, it’s done. The time of kneading all depends on how hard and fast you knead.

    E)Knead the dough into a ball shape. Place in a greased bowl and cover with a wet towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm place. Let it proof till it's doubled in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour (Note: the time will vary and depends on the weather. I still used my bread machine in this stage. And my bread machine has a warmer.)

    **Then, continue with step #3 from my original recipe.

    If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know.

    Amy

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  7. This looks good and easy to make. I would love to try do this.Thanks for posting the manual procedure if w/out bread machine...I don't have one yet!

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  8. Hi Amy, My name is Yen.

    I have never bake anything before except during my secondary school days which was 20yrs ago. After seeing ur photos n recipe, really wanted to try it. And I also love the idea of giving my boy (13mths) freshly bake bread.

    What bread machine r u using? Is it good? Could u recommend me a bread machine n an oven to start with?

    Btw if I reduce the salt n sugar content, will it affect the end result? Why do we hv to keep the tangzhong in fridge overnight?

    ReplyDelete
  9. @ Yen: Thank you for leaving a comment and your interest in trying my bread recipe. :)

    You can find more information on the bread machine that I use over the "equipment" tab on my blog (right below the top banner). However, it's a really old model and I only use it to knead the dough. (it got lots of different settings/functions but I seldom use them).

    What bread machine you select greatly depends on what you really need from the machine. If your goal is to use the bread machine to knead the dough, you probably can find a more basic model. Honestly, I don't like to bake my bread in the machine. They often came out uneven after baked. I like to just use the "dough setting" and shape my own dough, into buns or loaves.

    You can definitely reduce the salt and sugar in the recipe, especially if you're baking for infant. But of course, it won't taste as good. The salt and sugar might seems a lot but the taste if really subtle, since you're baking a loaf (which is a lot of bread). You can try the recipe as it is for 1 time, and reduce the salt and sugar the next time so you can compare the difference.

    To keep the TangZhong in the fridge overnight to rest allows the bread flour to fully absorbs the water. If you are in a rush, at least let it rest for 6 hours.

    Hope I've answer your questions. If you have any other questions, feel free to leave me another message or email me at: amy [at] utry [dot] it

    Take care,
    Amy

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  10. You make this sound wonderful. Perfectly written post and great photos.

    I just love making my own bread, makes the kitchen smell wonderful. Saving this to give a try soon

    Dave

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  11. @Dave: Thank you for the sweet comment. :) Yes, couldn't agree with you more about baking my own bread. Love the wonderful smell from the kitchen. Hope you'll love this recipe as much as I do.

    Amy

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  12. Hi Amy
    I was very inspired by your recipe. Since I just got my bread maker I had a go. The dough came out of the bread maker a tad wet so I added a little more flour to make it easier to handle. I made sausage buns using the dough and it turned out fluffy, soft and yummy. My husband was pleased and so was I (you see he eats whatever I make so he is the best critic). Thank you for your fabulous recipe!

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  13. @Krista: Thank you for your sweet comment and feedback. I found the same when making bread on a humid day so I updated a side note on the recipe (to add more flour if needed).

    I'm so glad you and your husband enjoyed the recipe. Yes, I use this basic bread recipe for all kinds of bread and buns. :) Have fun baking.

    Amy

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  14. I've made bread using both your method of creating TangZhong (which is adding boiling water to flour) and the original method of creating TangZhong (which is to add cold water to flour and heat until thickened). The difference between the loaves is drastic, although I like them both for different reasons. The traditional method gives a much lighter and fluffier loaf whereas your method makes a much denser loaf, but both styles are well loved at our table.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for your feedback and comment, Morgan. That's very interesting because I have used both methods as well and there wasn't much difference in the bread texture when I did the comparison. I think the key is to make sure the water is boiling when pour onto the bread flour so the flour get "cooked" properly for the TangZhong. That's why the traditional method might work for you better. Anyway, I've also included the traditional method of TangZhong making and a video in a more recent post on my blog: http://utry.it/2012/01/hong-kong-bakery-style-sausage-bun.html

      Truly appreciate your input and taking the time to let me know your experience. Wish you a wonderful weekend! :)

      Delete
  15. Hi,

    I tried your recipe to make curry buns. But the buns turned out to be a bit bitter and not as soft as expected. Is it something to do with the yeast? I used exact quantities as per recipe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi there, thank you for your questions and trying the recipe. I'm guessing the bitterness of your buns could be from the burned curry? Since there's no curry in this particular recipe and I've never try to add curry in it, there's no way I can tell for sure if that was the reason.

      Also, this particular recipe is for a loaf bread, if you were to make this recipe into individual buns, the baking time would be shorter since buns cook up much faster than a loaf. That explains why your buns are not as soft as expected because they are possibly over baked. Please check out the recipes/links below for your reference to make this recipe to individual buns. Hope that helps.

      http://utry.it/2012/04/pastrami-and-muenster-cheese-blossom.html
      http://utry.it/2012/01/hong-kong-bakery-style-sausage-bun.html
      http://utry.it/2011/02/philly-friendship-braided-bread.html
      http://utry.it/2010/10/prosciutto-di-parma-with-smoke-gouda.html

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  16. I am confused...
    1/2 Cup Boiling Water
    1/4 Cup Bread Flour
    Is this relation is correct for TnagZhong method ? 5 to 1

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry to get you confused. The 5 to 1 ratio is by weight. To make things easier for my readers in the U.S., I weighted out the ingredients and they measure at 1/2 cup water and 1/4 cup brad flour by volume. Let me know if you have other questions, I'm happy to answer.

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  17. I'm looking at your instructions and you're mentioning bread flour. Can this some method be done with all purpose in the same measurements?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, you can substitute bread flour with all purpose with the equal amount! Bread flour is higher in gluten (good for bread) that's why I recommend it. But all purpose works just fine. Also, I have an updated bread recipe you might be interested to check out. I included a YouTube step-by step instruction on that as well. Here's the link to the updated post: http://utry.it/2015/05/how-to-make-sandwich-bread-tangzhong.html
      Have fun backing! :)

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  18. Another great recipe for my smaller 9x4x4 Pullman Loaf pan! I am wondering if you can make a larger batch of tangzhong paste, divide it into batches of enough for one loaf each and freeze them? I know the paste will last only for 1-3 days in the refrigerator but I'm wonderiang if freezing batches might make it last for a few months in the freezer. What do you think?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've never tried freezing the TangZhong because it is high water content, and I'm afraid it will separate or get to much condensation during the defrost process. Plus, it's really not that much work to make the TangZhong fresh as needed, compare to making a large batch, portioning out, freezing them individually, and then need to defrost before use, etc. I rather make it fresh each time I need it. But you can definitely experiment with it if that's what you prefer. Hope that helps. Have fun baking! :)

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