Tangzhong, an Asian bread-making technique, may be the secret to making home-made yeast bread and rolls soft, fluffy, moist, airy, tender and have a longer shelf life.
This Asian technique cooks a small percentage of the flour and liquid (water or milk) in a yeast bread recipe very briefly to make a thick slurry or roux known as tangzhong. Tangzhong is then cooled and combined with the remaining ingredients. The cooking process pre-gelatinizes the starches in the flour, enabling the starches to absorb more water. King Arthur Baking says flour absorbs twice as much hot liquid as it does cool/lukewarm liquid. The gelatinized flour/liquid mixture creates a structure which helps the bread dough hold on to extra liquid through mixing, kneading, rising, baking, and cooling. As a result the dough is less sticky, easier to knead, rise is higher, yeast products are moister and stay soft and fresh longer.
The process to make tangzhong is simple:
- Mix 1 part flour to 5 parts liquid, by weight in a saucepan.
- Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring continually to prevent scorching, until the mixture thickens and reaches about 150°F (65°C) creating a roux or the tangzhong.
- Let the tangzhong cool; mix it directly into the yeast dough like any other mix-in.
Tangzhong can be made ahead and kept for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. After making the tangzhong, cool to room temperature, place in a container, cover, and refrigerate.
In order to use tangzhong in yeast bread recipes, hydration needs to be 75%, meaning that the liquid should equal 75% of the weight of the flour. King Arthur Baking has detailed information on how to convert a standard yeast bread recipe to use tangzhong along with a bread recipe using tangzhong.
Reviewed and updated, 6/2024, mg.
