Tangzhong whole meal bread

Most people are getting more health conscious as they grow older. Many of my friends request that I bake a whole meal loaf for them that is soft and delicious. Most of the western recipes for wholemeal bread are not that soft for our Asian taste. I decide to bake one using the Tangzhong method and here it is.


Make one 22 x10.5 x 10 cm Loaf

Tangzhong Starter dough 
20gm cup bread flour
100ml water (could be replaced by milk, or 50/50 water and milk)

Method of making starter dough:
1. Mix flour in water well without any lumps. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring consistently until  gluey and starchy. Remove from heat.
2. Transfer into a clean bowl. Cover with a cling wrap  to prevent from drying up. Let cool. Chill in fridge for at least one hour. Then the batter is ready to be used.


 (A)
 200g bread flour
 150g /whole meal / whole meal flour
 1 tsp  instant dried yeast
 40g sugar
 5g salt

 (B)
 1 egg, at room temperature and slightly beaten
 110g milk, at room temperature
 100g tangzhong, at room temperature

 40g unsalted butter, slightly softened at room temperature



 Method:
 1. Combine all dry ingredients (A) flour, salt, sugar and instant yeast in a bowl.  Make a well in the center. Whisk and combine all wet ingredients: milk, egg and starter dough, then add into the well of the dry ingredients.

 2.  Knead until you get a dough shape and gluten has developed, then knead in the butter.  Keep kneading until the dough is smooth, not sticky and elastic.

 3. Knead the dough into a ball shape. Place in a greased bowl and cover with a wet towel or cling wrap. Let it proof till it's doubled in size, about 1½ hour.

 4. Transfer to a clean floured surface. Punch down and divide the dough into three equal portions . Knead into ball shapes. Cover with cling wrap, let rest for 15 minutes.

 5. Roll out each portion of the dough with a rolling pin into an oval shape.  Roll from the upper, shorter end down to the bottom . Flatten the dough with your rolling pin. Then roll once again Swiss roll-style . The seals face down.

 6. Arrange the rolled-up dough in a greased or non-stick loaf tin . Leave it for the 2nd round of proofing, about 40 minutes, or until the dough rises up to 3/4 of the height of the tin inside. Close the loaf lid.  If your tin doesn’t have a lid, just cover with aluminum foil.

 7. Bake at 180C for 30 minutes or till the bread is golden brown

 Notes - As whole meal flour is added, it’s very hard to knead the dough until it passes windowpane test. Just knead it until it’s very elastic. When you try to stretch the dough into a thin translucent membrane (i.e. a windowpane), it’d be broken into an irregular hole. It’s done. Don’t ever over-knead it


For more detail information please visit my website Tangzhong wholemeal bread

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