August 29, 2019 - 12:34pm
Tang Zhong
I was watching a video of Brave Tart on Serious eats presenting a recipe for bagels. It was interesting for 2 reasons:
1. She used a food processor with a very stiff dough to get great gluten develpment,
and
2. She used a measure of gelatinised flour - Tang Zhong to improve shelf life.
I thought the food processor was a pretty good idea but I was intrigued by the Tang Zhong use for bagels. Most of the recipes on this site seem to use it to get a soft, shreddable crumb which is not something I associate with bagels. Do TFL use this for other types of bread? And what are the general benefits of Tang Zhong?
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After checking up Stella Parks (Bravetart), what she did was to create dinner rolls, which is soft inside (due to yukone, aka tangzhong) and crispy outside (boiling-water dip):
"I tried smashing the two techniques together, and, while it was instantly apparent that I'd committed an unspeakable crime against bagels, the result was a mighty fine dinner roll—chewy like French bread, but more tender because of the yukone, with a crisp and crackling crust thanks to that bagel-style dip in boiling water. " (from Crisp and Fluffy Dinner Rolls by Way of Japan...and Bagels)
To some people, this is not bagel at all if the inside is not chewy but soft, even though it has a hole in the center and a boiling-water dip before baking.
That is an earlier recipe. She just posted a different recipe for 'bagels'.