Joshua Weissman’s Multipurpose Dough
They Look Pretty Good
Time: 3 hours
Ingredient Availability: 5/5
Difficulty: 2/5
I wanted to make some chicken sandwiches from scratch, so I decided to go all the way and make the buns from scratch, too. According to An Unapologetic Cookbook, this dough is famous, so why not give it a try? Of course, I am making the dough as a sandwich bun to accompany the chicken patties I am making.
Key Ingredients and Omissions:
This recipe is pretty simple and there aren’t any special ingredients. I didn’t leave anything out. I guess one key ingredient is the Tangzhong, which is made of flour, milk, and water. I doubt the recipe would really turn out with out it, so make sure you take the time to make it. The butter should also be about room temperature before you start.
Tools:
Sheet pan
Sauce pan
Whisk
Stand mixer
Bowl
Cooking Review:
Tangzhong: 6 minutes
I added the flour, water, and milk to a saucepan and whisked them together before putting the mixture over medium heat. I mixed it continuously until a thick paste formed. I transferred the paste to a separate container and set it aside to cool.
Bloom Yeast: 15 minutes
After cleaning out the saucepan, I warmed the milk and water to about 100 degrees Fahrenheit and transferred it to a bowl along with the yeast. I mixed them together and let it sit for 10 minutes until it was foamy.
Mix Dough: 12 minutes
I mixed the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. I put on the dough hook and began mixing on a medium-low speed while I added the milk and yeast mixture, the egg, and egg yolk one at a time. I let it mix for about 6 minutes for the dough to begin to come together before adding the cool tangzhong and mixing it in for about 2 minutes. Finally, I added the softened butter and mixed it in for 2 minutes. At this point, the dough was fairly smooth and elastic.
Rise & Form Dough: 1 hour 11 minutes
I transferred the dough to a greased bowl and covered with lightly greased plastic wrap. I let it rise for an hour, as it had just about doubled in size. I punched down the dough to release the gas and used a floured surface to split the dough into 7 evenly sized dough balls. The dough balls were arranged on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Proof: 30 minutes
I covered the dough with a damp towel and let it sit for about 30 minutes for them to double in size.
Bake: 24 minutes
I beat an egg and brushed each ball of dough with it before baking for 22 minutes. The recipe says to bake for about 15 minutes, but they were pretty pale at that point.
Cool: 19 minutes
I let the buns cool for about 4 minutes on the pan before transferring them to a cooling rack for 15 minutes before giving them a try.
Analysis:
The texture of this buns is what makes them special. The flavor is fairly neutral and lets the rest of the ingredients of your sandwich shine. As far as the texture goes, these buns are very soft and easy to bite through. They have a slight chew but are by no means chewy. I think they are definitely better than most other buns you would buy from the store, but nothing exceptional in my opinion. If they had a more rich flavor that still didn’t overpower the sandwich, I think they would be even better. I decided to give these bunds a 7/10.
