红豆面包卷(汤种法) Red Bean Rolls (Tangzhong@Water Roux Method)

I have a very good friend who is a joker. We both completed the London Chamber of Commerce & Industry(LCCI) & the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants(ACCA) in KL.  He was one of the first friends whom I made when I first went to KL & after all these years, we still keep a close contact. Every time when we go back to Malaysia, we will surely meet up. Every Chinese New Year(CNY), I’ll call & speak to him & his lovely wife & I’ve been doing this for the past 12 years.  Now, neither of us is doing accounting. As you know, I’m a full-time housewife, he on the other hand has become a property developer & building bungalows for living in KL.

Recently I wrote to him: “Hey, SL, we are planning to go back to Malaysia for holidays. Haven’t booked the tickets but will be there for 2.5 weeks & 1 week in Singapore! Make sure you bring your sons out because I haven’t met them yet!”

SL wrote back: “I’m sure that Isabelle will fall in love with my boys because one of them is Badman & the other one is Spiderman. All the girls love them!”

I wrote back“But my Isabelle loves Ironman, hahaha!”

After all these years, it has become my habit to open my address book & call my friends from A to Z on CNY & SL isn’t the only friend whom I made the call.  Speaking to old friends on this special festival make me feel warm because for the 8^th consecutive years, we won’t be going home for CNY celebration because it isn’t a public holiday in Australia & my son will start school next year.   But most importantly, my hubby can’t take leave at that time. Sigh!

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前两个星期一睡醒,看到晴朗的天空便心血来潮想到spdong(知足常乐)的红豆面包卷，但因为她用了烫种来做面包，我没有耐心再多等一天，所以最後决定用汤种来做面包体。单看食谱和照片还是不太懂怎样去把面包扭成麻花状，所以每一个面包都扭成不同的型状出来，後来再翻查网页，才看到“君之”也曾做了这个面包，他提到面包应该先扭一圈，然後再打一个单结。在这里可以看到他的照片！

1^st time of seeing this beautifully shaped Red Bean Rolls from spdong(知足常乐) but at that time, I didn’t pay attention to her recipe until recently, got up in 1 sunny morning, there was an urge to make this roll so quickly went online to study her recipe but then, I realized that her dough is required to be prepared overnight. I don’t have the patience to wait for another day so at last, I decided to use my usual Water Roux method to make my version of the Red Bean Rolls. One thing that I must mention here is that after shaping 6 of these rolls, I still couldn’t figure out as to how to shape them correctly! Some of these were able to shape out of luck but the others were gone to a different shape! After baking, I went online again to do the research & only then, I found a post by “君之”that shares his way of shaping the rolls.  Click here to see the chinese version. In order to make a “twisted flower shape,” you need to use each of your hand to hold on each end of the dough, make a twist, follow by a knot, then tuck in to the centre of the dough.  In reality, I don’t think that my dough is long enough to tie a knot but at least I know by now that I must make a complete twist first before joining the 2 ends together, that’s how I shaped them & no wonder they aren’t as pretty as the original shape, haha!

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Red Bean Rolls (Tangzhong@Water Roux Method)

红豆面包卷(汤种法)

Makes 6 Rolls

Water Roux Starter:

20g Flour

100g Water

Main Ingredients:

Water Roux Starter (use all)

250g Bread/High Gluten Flour

150g Milk

1 Egg

30g Caster Sugar

2g Instant Dry Yeast

20g Butter

180g Red Bean Paste(I used store-bought)

Egg Wash

Some White Sesame Seeds

Method:

1. To prepare the Tangzhong starter, please click here to view.

2. To prepare the main dough, please click here to view.

3. Divide the red bean paste into 30g each & roll into balls. Refrigerate for further use.

4. After 1^st proofing, divide the dough into 6 equal portions, about 90g each.  Roll into balls.  Rest for 10 minutes.

5. Flatten each small dough into a round disc. Place in 1 red bean ball & gently wrap up the red bean ball & seal nicely.  Roll into ball again.  Repeat until all the dough is used.

6. Gently roll out each dough into oval, about 18cm long. Flour the surface, hand, rolling pin & dough scraper if necessary.

7. Use a pizza cutter to make 4 quick & decisive slits in the middle of the dough, leaving a gap in between each slit.

8. Lift the dough with the help of a floured dough scraper.Use each of your hand to hold on each end of the dough. Make a perfect twist. Without losing the twist, carefully join up the 2 ends. Place on a lined baking try.

9. Spread the dough with some water, cover with cling wrap & leave to proof in a warm place until they double in size. Brush with some egg wash, sprinkle with some sesame seeds.

10. Bake in a 180C preheated oven for 5 minutes, reduce to 170C & bake for another 10 minutes or until golden.

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I’m sharing this recipe with BYOB August2012 organised by Heather from Girlichef!