Hokkaido-style sourdough & tangzhong pan loaf and buns
I had not made Hokkaido-style dough for some time. For the fluffyness of it, I decided to have a run yesterday and was pretty happy with the rise and softness of loaf and buns. The levain was built in two stages throughout a combined 12-hour period, where the first stage was 100% hydration, and the second stage was a stiff 50% version. All ingredients are supermarket off-the-shelf, and I realize now that I am running out of AP flour!
| Tangzhong | Weight | Percent | ||
| AP Flour | 35 | g | 6% | |
| Water | 150 | g | 25% | |
| Dough | ||||
| AP Flour | 499 | g | 84% | |
| Salt | 5 | g | 1% | |
| Sugar | 30 | g | 5% | |
| Egg | 40 | g | 7% | |
| Milk | 253 | g | 43% | |
| Butter | 25 | g | 4% | |
| Malt (optional) | 8 | g | 1% | |
| Levain @ 50% hydration | 90 | g | 15% | |
| Total dough | 1135 | g | ||
| Total flour | 594 | g | ||
| Total water + egg | 473 | g | ||
| Hydration | 80% |
From my point of view that are two success factors to observe. The first factor is related to the sequence how the ingredients are mixed, and the second factor is that it is very important to develop gluten so that the dough has strong structure to fuel enough rise during proofing and baking.
Process
The Tangzhong is prepared upfront by mixing flour and water and heating on the fire. Steer the flour-water mixture continuously avoid boiling and let it cool. Once cooled, mix it with milk and levain, whisking gently to break up the stiff levain. Add the egg and mix well to combine all semi-liquid ingredients. At this point start adding the dry components and mixing then into the liquid one after another in the following sequence: malt (optional), sugar, salt and AP flour. Mix everything in a soggy mass and knead to develop gluten. I kneaded for about 10 min on the counter (I guess french slaps could be efficient, but I did not want to create a mess in the kitchen). After gluten is developed, let the dough rest for 20-30 min and then incorporate the butter into the dough. Make sure sufficient kneading is done after the butter is incorporated. You should be looking for a silky skin dough. That is pretty much there is to it. I still applied three sets of stretches and folds spaced by 1 hour from each other. Total bulk fermentation lasted around 5 hours. Once the bulk fermentation is complete, divide the dough into 4 parts, pre-shape as boule and rest for 30 min on the counter. I used 3/4 of the dough for the loaf and 1/4 for the buns.
Baked the buns for 25 min on a 180C / 350F oven, then baked the tin loaf for 35 min on 180C / 350F. Prior to baking, basted buns and loaf with egg wash and sprinkled some sesame seeds on the buns. The rise has been phenomenal, probably a combination of the process, active levain, timing and luck. Will enjoy the results for few days to come.
Comments
That looks awesome, pillowy soft and well risen. I haven’t tried a sourdough Hokkaido yet I’ve only made the IDY style, how does the flavour compare with IDY, is the sourness apparent?
Benny
Benny, I can hardly taste sourness in this one. I am also surprised that sourdough can yield such a rise. One thing for sure, the buns made tasty burgers.
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That’s good to know, I will add that to my growing list of things to bake. Boy do those burgers look good!
Benny