When I saw photos of cute mini buns online, I couldn’t help but make my own version of it! I reminds me of soft and bouncy 雞蛋仔 waffles that I would get in Hong Kong – in bread form.
Tearing the soft buns is the most satisfying part.
This recipe uses the tang zhong technique. Tang zhong is a technique of heating flour and water into a roux that is then added to the bread dough.
This gelatinises the starch in the flour so it can absorb more water. Now that there’s less unabsorbed water in the dough, it’s less sticky and much easier to knead.
After baking, I finished it off by brushing some melted garlic and parsley butter. The smell was so irresistible! It’s a very versatile recipe that I’ve also used for all sorts of bakery delights including sausage buns and cha siu bao (Chinese bbq pork buns). Check out this recipe if you’re interested in the filling I used for the cha siu baos.
If you tried this recipe, make sure you tag your creation with @ultimateomnoms on Instagram so I can give you a shoutout!
Soft fluffy bread (tang zhong method)
Ingredients
Tang zhong mixture
- 40 g bread flour
- 200 g water
Bread dough
- 600 g bread flour
- 60 g sugar
- 12 g salt
- 10 g dry yeast
- 10 g milk powder
- 200 g milk (lukewarm)
- 60 g heavy cream
- 1 large egg
- 50 g unsalted butter (room temperature)
Egg wash
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp milk milk
Sugar syrup
- 2 tsp sugar dissolved in 2 tsp hot water
Instructions
- Make the tang zhong roux by cooking the flour and water over low heat. It is ready when a thick paste is formed. Take it off the heat to cool to room temperature.
- Make the bread dough by mixing flour, sugar and salt together in a bowl.
- In a separate bowl mix together the yeast, milk powder, milk and cream. Let sit for 5 minutes.
- Add the milk mixture, tang zhong roux, and egg to the dry ingredients. Mix until it comes together in a dough.
- Add the softened butter and knead until dough becomes elastic and smooth, and you can stretch a piece into a windowpane.
- Put the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover and put in a warm place until it doubles in size for about an hour.
- Punch the gas out of the risen dough. Shape the dough into desired shape.
- Place the dough into the pans for a second rise.
- Brush entire top of loaves with egg wash and bake at 180C for 25-30 minutes, or until top is golden-brown.
- Once removed from the oven, brush the bread with sugar syrup to give them an irresistible shine and sweetness.
