Korean milk bread 우유식빵

Update: This recipe has 3 proves which can take very long especially in winter (approx 90 mins per prove). This recipe comparison looks at milk bread recipes that only require 2 proving.

First time I've seen this Korean food blogger but looks interesting as an alternative to Maangchi. Problem is however, her site is not searchable so it's much harder to navigate, and it's picture heavy. Anyway, her videos and descriptions are really good, very detailed and careful. I came across her while looking at other bread recipes and hey, I know the Japanese milk bread recipe is difficult so let's try this one! This recipe involves 3 rises so it will take a whole day!

Modern Pepper's Korean milk bread

Ingredients

4 cups of bread flour (or all purpose - comes out denser)

3 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp cold butter

2 ¼ tsp instant yeast

Pinch of salt

1 cup milk, warmed to between 37 to 46 deg

½ cup water, warmed to same temp. I prefer to separate out the milk and water

1 egg beaten (for egg wash if using, see note below)

1 tbsp butter, softened

Size of loaf tin: 11x6"

Size of dinner roll (makes 8 rolls) 12x8"

Method

1. Add all the dry ingredients except the yeast. Mix well with a dough whisk.

2. Add the butter. Use a small butter knife, fork, or pastry cutter to cut the cold butter into the dough, or just use your fingers.

3. Create a well in the centre. Add the yeast and all the milk. Allow to active for 60 seconds (I don't bother). Slowly draw a bit of flour at a time into the well. Once you're done, start adding the water. You may not end up using all the water. You're looking for a claggy dough without dry spots of flour but the dough should not be so wet that it sticks to the sides of the bowl.

4. Put the bowl onto the Kitchen Aid and start to mix with the dough hook at Speed 1. Stop intermittently to use the dough whisk to scrape the dough off the hook. Once the dough stops climbing the hook, turn up to Speed 2. 

5. Beat until the surface of the dough is shiny and smooth. I didn't time from start to finish but I estimate also 8 to 10 minutes due to the constant stopping and scraping. Remove from the bowl and oil the bowl with a thin layer of oil. Round the dough into a ball and sit back in the bowl. Cover the bowl with cling film and a tea towel, and set aside to rest. It should double in size, approx 45 mins to 1.5 hours depending on room temps.

6. Punch the dough and proceed to second proofing.  Cut into 3 equal parts. Flatten with hands to remove any excess air. Knead. Create three balls (see video). Cover with wrap and kitchen towel. Let rest until doubled in size.

7. Meanwhile, butter the loaf tin and set aside.

8. Third proofing and shaping. Punch the dough. Flatten each dough into a rectangular shape. Roll with rolling pin. The width of the dough sld be the double width of your loaf tin. The length sld be slightly longer on both sides. (Watch the video) Fold into thirds. Roll up from the shorter end. 

9. Place the first roll in the centre of the buttered pan. Place the second and third roll at the corresponding ends. Cover and proof. Wait until the loaf has risen to approx 1 inch above the top. Because I'm using the Pullman (pain de mie) pan, I close the lid when the dough has risen to 1 inch below the top.

10. If not covering the loaf with the top, egg wash the top with beaten egg.

11. Place a rack in so that the pan when going in will be in the centre of the oven. Bake in pre-heated oven 30 minutes (for closed lid) or 25-28 minutes (for open top) at 175 deg C until the top is rich golden brown (if not closing the lid). You may need to rotate the bread halfway.

12. Once done, (remove the lid) and turn upside down onto a cooling rack. Remove the tin and turn right side up again. Allow to cool completely.

13. Best eaten when cool, perhaps even overnight. Store in plastic back to keep the moisture locked in.

Tips I learnt:

1. Unfortunately there's a hole because I learnt that I didn't seal seams well and roll it tightly enough.

2. I had opened the lid to peak inside to see how far up the bread had risen and when I closed it back, I couldn't close it fully and this bit expanded and grew outside the tin through the gap. Oops. This lip made it really bard to remove the bread from the tin afterwards.

Next time I might not close the lid. The bread is slightly undercooked and also the bread seemed to grow beyond the tin. Second, I might not be so generous with buttering the tin. The oil bubbled and dripped everywhere over my oven grates. Alternatively, I might the tin on a baking dish but that would cut off circulation and make the bottom soggy (hence why my pan has holes at the bottom!) In another video I saw, the baker merely thinly oiled with veg oil.

Feedback: Bread is a bit sweet so maybe reduce to 2 tbsp of sugar next time if I don't want a sweet bread.

Peanut Min jiang kueh

I have previously tried making the red bean version of this with an overnight proofing.   

From Meatmen's recipe with video is much simplier as it doesn't involve any overnight yeast. However, the recipe yields a more spongey - cakey rather than crispy texture, probably due to the addition of egg. I like both recipes depending on time available and also what I feel like eating.

Ingredients (2 thinner pancakes, I doubled original recipe below for 4 heftier pancakes)

260g plain flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp instant yeast

pinch of salt

2 tbsp sugar

2 eggs

320ml water (warmed to around 37 to 46 deg C)

Filling

100g roasted ground peanut

30g white sesame seeds, toasted

30g sugar

Method

1. Mix all the dry ingredients. Create a well in the centre. 

2. Add the egg and beat in the well, then add the water. Incorporate the flour around the well slowly at first until everything is moistened. Break up any lumps if you can.

3. Let the batter rest covered for 30 minutes. 

4. In the mean time, prepare the filling. Lightly toast the sesame seeds. Once cooled, combine with ground peanut and sugar until evenly mixed. Set aside.

4. Heat up a HCP. Oil the bottom with 2 tbsp of oil and spread it around. Wipe off the excess with a kitchen towel.

5. On medium heat, ladle on 3 small soup scoops of batter. Swirl around the pan to cook evenly close and lock the lid. Cook for 3 minutes then turn down the heat to medium low. 

6. Open up to check if the top has coagulated. Sprinkle on the peanut mixture, about 3 - 4 tbsp, until the top is covered evenly. Close back the HCP for a further 2 minutes. 

6. The sides should have shrunk away. Flip half the pancake over and flip out onto a plate. Serve immediately.

Sun Right pork bun

I am naming this recipe the Sun Right pork bun because the bao flour comes from the Sun Right brand and this is the recipe printed on the packet. The packet's recipe is based on 350g of flour (to make 20 buns using 500g of minced pork). However because the packet is 1kg, I decided to use 500g so that it's easier the next time so here are my adjustments.

Ingredients (Makes 36*3" baos or 18*4.5" baos)

500g bao flour

¼ tsp salt

1 tbsp instant yeast

3 tsp sugar (because this is a savoury recipe; the packet says 3 tbsp sugar for 350g flour which I feel is a tad sweet unless you're using char siu?)

1 tbsp oil

1 cup milk, warmed to 40 deg C

1 cup + ¼ cup water, warmed to 40 deg C

Filling

500g pork mince

2 tsbp of water

1 tbsp oil

3 tbsp corn starch

1 tbsp minced ginger

1 tbsp light soya sauce (add another 1 tsp salt if not on a low salt diet like me)

Dash of white pepper

Method

1. In the KA bowl, mix the bao flour, salt, yeast, and sugar. Try to ensure that the salt doesn't come into direct contact with the yeast or it will deactivate the yeast. I usually mix both into the flour separately before incorporating everything.

2. Make a well in the centre of the flour. Using a dough whisk or chopsticks, slowly pour the oil into the centre of the well. Mix. Next, slowly pour the milk in and mix. Similarly, slowly pour the 1 cup of water in. Check for how wet the dough is. If there are still dry spots, pour in the leftover ¼ cup about a tbsp of a time. You may not need to use all of the ¼ cup of water.

3. Put on the KA dough hook. Turn on to Speed 1. At this point, if there are still dry spots, add in 1 tsp at a time until just enough to wet all the dry flour. 

4. Turn up to Speed 2. Stop periodically (perhaps every minute initially) to scrape the dough off the hook and down back into the bowl. Otherwise the dough may climb up the hook and into the motor.

5. Once the dough looks smooth and shiny, check using the window pane method. Another sign is that the dough separates into smaller balls in the bowl. Remove the bowl from the KA. Remove the dough and oil the bowl. Ball up the dough and return to the bowl. Cover the bowl with cling film and then a tea towel and set aside in a warm place to proof for about 45 mins to 1 hr until the dough doubles in size.

6. Punch down the air and remove the dough. Divide into 36 lumps (about 32 to 33g per lump). Flatten and roll out, leaving the centre slightly thicker than the edges. Add about 2 tsp of pork mince (if making 4.5" inch bao, use 3 - 4 tsps of filling). Stack it up as tall as you can. This will look like a cylinder rather than a ball.

7. Allow to proof for 45 minutes. When the time is almost up, bring water to a rolling boil. Once the steamer is put on, turn down to a medium high flame. (Ensure that the cover is wrapped in a tea towel or use a bamboo steamer otherwise the condensation will drip on the bao and ruin its 'face'.) Steam the buns for 10 minutes. Turn off the flame and leave it to rest for a further 2 minutes.

8. Serve immediately.