Monday 20 July 2015

5,000 Dollar Big Ass Buns


It was the second day of Hari Raya. I was filled with a sense of adventure. So I dug out this recipe for 5 Thousand Dollar Bread which I printed from Veronica's blog. Then I realised I also printed the same recipe from another Veronica. hah..hah...hah....

Up until now, I have had no motivation whatsoever to bake bread. I get stoked whenever any of my blogger friends post their bread or buns. The most recent being Joyce's Cranberry Bread. Why am I like that? I don't know - I think making bread is too much trouble and I am afraid of failure. Until that day.

So I studied the recipe. First up, make the starter dough. 


OK. Got that. The recipe said to sit the starter in a warm place to rise until it looks like "honeycomb". It's warm everywhere in the house but the warmest place is the corner where my water distiller was humming away. So that was where I placed the dough.


The starter rose to twice it's size within 40 minutes. So far so good. Now for the main dough. I wasn't too sure how to proceed but I forged ahead with gusto. I didn't know what I was getting myself into and the dough was very, very, very sticky. 

As I was sweating away, I remembered that Zoe mentioned that the dough is too sticky. I was starting to regret my foray into bread making. But there was no turning back.

My auntie would be glad to know that I have finally employed the assistance of the dough scrapper she gave me. Scrape, knead, scrape, knead, sweat, sweat and sweat some more. Gawd! This is hard! I couldn't take any photos of my hard labor because my hands were full of dough. Haiz!

My dough scraper. Price tag still haven't take out. Tsk..tsk..tsk...
But finally, I managed to pull together a ball of dough.


I covered the bowl with cling wrap and placed it at the same spot to rise. Meantime, I had a lot of washing up to do. One hour later, praise God, my dough doubled in size.


I tipped the dough onto a lightly floured board. It was still sticky. It was mind boggling how to shape this very soft and sticky dough. I had given up hope at this point. My dough is sure to fail. I have demoted this 5,000 dollar bread to 5 dollars. No, no, make that 5 sen. 

I did my best to divide the dough into 6 equal blobs. Please don't laugh. I am deeply embarrassed at this point. I want to run and hide.

Tsk...tsk...tsk...
I covered the pan with cling wrap and placed it near my still humming distiller. Whatever will be will be. About 45 minutes later, this was how it looked like.

Monster buns.
Oh, ok! At least it doubled in size. I don't know what the outcome will be. I brushed the blobs with beaten egg and put them into the preheated oven. No prayers required. This one needs a freakin miracle. Amen.

After 25 minutes, I opened the oven door and took a peek. 


Wah seh! It looked like buns. And it smelled wonderful. But looks can be deceiving. When it was cool enough, I dug it out of the pan.


The moment of truth is about to be revealed. I tore out a bun.

Mak oi! Jadi lah!
Whoah! Looks like real baybeh! I was amazed. Just to further confirm, I made a closer inspection.....


.....and tore the bun apart.


And of course I had a taste. Oooohhh....so soft, so fluffy, so tasty! I couldn't believe it. Miracles do happen.


I was amazed and elated. But this is hard work. I know, I know, I can use the mixer with bread hooks and all or even buy a breadmaker. But where's the fun? Pulak....


All I need is practice and more practice. This experience has given me much encouragement. And hope hah..hah..hah...









5,000 Thousand Dollar Bread
Recipe source : Adapted from Minty's Kitchen
Note : I knead the dough by hand. 

Ingredients :

Starter Dough
- 105g bread flour
- 45g plain flour
- 12g caster sugar
- 3g instant yeast (1/2 tsp+1/4 tsp)
- 120g water (My dough was still dry and I added extra 1 tablespoon of water at a time until the dough comes together)

Main Dough :
- 105g bread flour
- 45g plain flour
- 48g sugar
- 12g milk powder
- 1 egg
- 27g water (Again, my dough was still dry and I added extra 1 tablespoon of water at a time until the dough comes together)
- 40g salted butter

Method :
1. Add all the starter dough ingredients together in a mixing bowl until the dough comes together.
2. Cover the bowl with cling warp and place the bowl at a warm place to rise to double it's size and it looks like "honeycomb" when you break the dough.
3. Add all the main dough ingredients except butter into a mixing bowl. Mix to combine and knead the dough until it becomes elastic.
4. Add butter and knead until the dough is shiny and pliable.
5. Shape the dough into a ball and place the dough into another bowl which is greased with some oil.
6. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and place at a warm place to rise to double it's size.
7. Punch the dough down to expel the air and immediately divide into 6 equal portions and roll each into a round shape.
8. Place the dough into a lightly greased baking pan. Cover with cling wrap and allow to rise to double it's size.
9. Brush the dough with beaten egg and bake at 160C for 25 minutes or until the crust becomes brown.

40 comments:

  1. Long time i didn't do any cooking or bakes liao...

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    1. No need to cook lah, Sharon. You always got chance to go out and eat nice food.

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  2. Ooooo...beautiful!!! I would not dare try cakes...much less bread. :D Why 5,000 dollar?

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    1. Thank you! Well, the story goes that a sifu spent RMB5,000 to acquire this recipe, hence the name.

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  3. WOW... looks soooo good!!! I must try to make this $5000 bun one day!! :D

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    1. Looking forwards to seeing your version, Ann!

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  4. Bravo, PH! But after I've heard your words.....knead, scrape, sweat, sweat and sweat some more....it'll be to my best interest not to attempt (not that I can anyway)! :D

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    1. It was sheer hard labour, Kris! But the end product made it worth the sweat hah..hah...

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  5. Haha, I couldn't stop laughing at the name of your buns Phong Hong! Lately I've been exercising my arms a lot kneading bread dough as I don't have a mixer here in Msia. Good exercise and sweating a lot and I must admit, lots of fun too. Good to hear you like these big ass babies ;-)

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    1. Hi Veronica! Ah...working it out in the hot weather, eh? After all the exercise, it is very rewarding to eat a few freshly baked buns hah..hah..

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  6. That sure look nice and fluffy.

    Looking forward to more of your bread posts soon! :)

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    1. When I get my strength back, Lina hah..hah...

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  7. Kneading bread is good for destressing, esp if I do it by hand. Hope to see more bread recipes here.

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    1. Well, it was stressful that day because the dough was sticking everywhere! I'll get the hang of it eventually....hopefully....

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  8. Hehe I used to be so scared of making breads too, but I do it occasionally now..... having freshly baked bread is great! Your buns look really fluffeh.

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    1. Yen, it's still scary to me, all that hard work! But I'm game to try more when I recover from the trauma hah..hah...

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  9. LOL.. I learn a new word blobs! I would always say dollops.
    I am surprised that you put the dough in blobs together to create the whole nice tray!
    I always thought the potato breads at hypermarket used a knife to draw lines.
    How I wish we are neighbours so that I can savour your food and bakings!
    God please bless me to live next door to PH.

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    1. Dollops are more dainty than blobs, I think :D Well, I hope that my next bread dough will look better :D

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  10. haha 5,000 Dollar Bread!! if I could ever bake this thing as nice, it would be 5,000,000 dollar instead!!!

    hmmm, no wonder you have not baked any bread before, I can imagine the sticky dough.. ah, just felt like sometimes you cover your nose and mouth with your hand when you sneeze, and then the mucus (mixed with saliva) all pancut onto your hands, and you have got all the sticky stuff on your hand!!! muahahaha, sorry, I think this is such an inappropriate example here huh?? yours is something going to be so fluffy and fragrant, yet I gave this lousy and disgusting example.. yucks!!! phiak my head, so potong stim!!! hahaha..

    okay back to the bread.. it was like reading a horror story really, like how you handle those sticky dough (okay okay, I am thinking about the example above again, phiak!!!).. okay okay, come back SK!!!

    it was actually fun right?? I mean you won't be able to experience this if you are using a breadmaker (and now I finally understand why there's the need of breadmaker!!).. you were lost, your heart pounding, you were anxious for this maiden bake.. but hey!! bravo to yourself, it's indeed a very nice bread!! give it a 50,000 dollar lah, haha!! looks like those potato bread sold on supermarket dei.. the top is golden brown and inside is so cotton fluffy and tough soft, yes, I can see it!!! :)

    yeah, agreed!! practice makes perfect, if you have the first time, you will have the next times for sure.. and I am foreseeing you to bake even more canggih bread in the future, no joke!!

    I am a super fans of cakes and breads!!! xD

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    1. Luckily I didn't sneeze while kneading the dough or else banyak susah! The fun part was seeing that the dough had risen and that I did not kill the yeast hah..hah..hah... Well, we'll see if I can go through another session of bread making :D

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  11. Phong Hong, Congratulations to you. You successfully make a very fluffy, soft, yummy bun. So you will be making more buns and bread?

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    1. Thank you, Nancy! I'm quite encouraged by the surprising success of this attempt, so I think there will be more buns coming along. But not so soon hah..hah...

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  12. Good morning dearie and Happy "Monday" blue.. I'm back to work today, so am replying all my blog rolls.. I laugh at the title first thing.. The buns look so nice and fluffy and buttery.. And you made the buns without a breadmaker! Clever girl wor! Long time I no bake/cook already, everyday tapau.. If cook also very simple food, like Bovril with rice and fried onion eggs (malu la wana say).. Or Yeo's canned chicken curry (my favourite) and Heinz baked beans and fry one vege..

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    1. Hi Louiz! I was very surprised that the buns turned put quite good. Don't worry lah, you are super busy with two boys and another baby on the way. So "tapau" food is more practical. Oh, you like Yeo's canned chicken curry. I am not a fan of that because I think it tastes funny hee..hee... But I love baked beans!

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  13. So when you break open the bread, 5 cent becomes $5000 again? XD

    Why is it called 5000 dollar bread anyway? Someone really tried to sell something like this for that much before? @.@

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    1. hah..hah... The story behind the name is that a sifu paid RMB5,000 to get this recipe. Don;t know if it is true or just an interesting story. So when are you baking bread? hah..hah...

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  14. Hi Phong Hong,
    Yipeeee!!! You finally made the one you have been putting off for so long..bread!! Your bread looks fabulous, so soft, fluffy and delicious! Now that you find that it is not so difficult to bake a bread, I'm sure we'll be seeing more of your bread making adventure. Making bread can be really addictive! Thanks for the mention! You really know how to make a grand entry with your first bread....5000 dollar big ass buns! Haha!
    Thumbs up to you and clap, clap! :)

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    1. Hi Joyce! hee..hee..finally! I still think it is hard, all that kneading and sticking and sweating. But I am not discouraged. I will bake buns again once I get my strength back hah...hah... I have you to thank for the inspiration!

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  15. Nice.....so fluffy leh. LOL..,hari tu Elin baru ajak me make bread

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    1. So you bake with Elin or not? Show ya? hee..hee...

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  16. baking is actually my dream.. i never had a chance to take classes though but I am eager to learn how to make wide range of pastries.... this one looks really great... i would love to match it with a hot choco fudge ^_^

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    1. You know, you don't need to take classes. I never did :)

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  17. Wah seh! Phong Hong,
    Of course it looked like buns ... Finally I see tasty yummy buns ! Good to exercise the wrist & arm ... kneading the dough and sweating out ! Hee ... hee.. I remembered my sweat almost dripping into the dough ... hee .. hee.

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    1. Karen, with the odd looking dough, I did not expect to see buns hah..hah...

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  18. Hi Phong Hong, congratulation on your successful buns. It look so good and very fluffy. Good to go with kopi o. Keep up the good job, well done.

    Have a nice day.
    Amelia

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    1. Thank you, Amelia! I was so happy, I forgot about the kopi-o hah..hah,,,

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  19. Well done ... it do looks fluffy and soft ! Big ass bun ... hahaha....what a name!

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    1. Chris, I gave it that name because the buns were huge!

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  20. I guess your dough is super sticky because you use the tangzhong method to get Super Soft and Fluffy bread. I used to help my sister knead dough for bread, not using tangzhong method so the dough is not sticky at all but the bread we made are those like french baguette and so not the super soft and fluffy type. Kneading bread is good exercise so you can use that to replace your normal exercises and bake more bread.

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    1. Mun, I was all sweaty and had to be careful not to let sweat drip into the dough! Yup. my arm got a good workout :)

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