August 23, 2007 - 9:29am
Yeast and Baking Powder at the same time
Hope anyone out there could help me out... I attended this 1 day baking seminar wherein the chef was making Pork Buns. He stressed out that in order for the bread to have a strong foundation inside for the pork fillings, you would have to add baking powder to the buns. How would this be true? I searched for pork bun recipes and found out that most of them do have baking powder included. What about adding baking powder to other breads other than pork buns... say, cinnamon rolls, swedish tea rings, interlaced breads, etc... Any answer would be a big help. Thank you!
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Are you refering to the chinese pork buns? Usually the chinese would use a double action baking powder. This is for a double action rising. the first rise is when you proof the bread after shaping and the second is when the bread hits the oven.
Which recioe did you use. would you care to share it.
I've seen the combo used in recipes for pancakes and English Muffins.
Rosalie
Yes, it is the Chinese Pork Buns recipe.
6 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1 3/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons shortening
Pork Filling:
1 pound finely chopped pork
1 1/2 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoon white sugar
1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 cup water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 1/2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons shortening
1 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
directions:
Dissolve 1/4 cup sugar in 1 3/4 cups warm water, and then add the yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes, or until mixture is frothy. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Stir in 2 tablespoons shortening and the yeast mixture; mix well. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a greased bowl, and cover it with a sheet of cling wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm place for about 2 hours, or until it has tripled in bulk. Cut the pork into 2 inch thick strips. Use fork to prick it all over. Marinate for 5 hours in a mixture made with 1 1/2 tablespoons light soy sauce, 1 1/2 tablespoons hoisin sauce, and 1 teaspoon sweet soy sauce. Grill the pork until cooked and charred. Cut roasted port into 1/2 inch cubes. Combine 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce, oyster sauce, and 1 cup water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil. Mix cornstarch with 2 1/2 tablespoons water; add to the saucepan, and stir until thickened. Mix in 2 tablespoons lard or shortening, sesame oil, and white pepper. Cool, and mix in the roasted pork. Remove the dough from the bowl, and knead it on a lightly floured surface until it is smooth and elastic. Roll the dough into a long roll, and divide it into 24 pieces. Flatten each piece with the palm of the hand to form a thin circle. The center of the circle should be thicker than the edge. Place one portion of the pork filling in the center of each dough circle. Wrap the dough to enclose the filling. Pinch edges to form the bun. Let the buns stand for 10 minutes. Steam buns for 12 minutes. Serve.
Note: Hoisin sauce, also called Peking sauce, is a thick, reddish-brown sauce that is sweet and spicy, and widely used in Chinese cooking. It's a mixture of soybeans, garlic, chile peppers and various spices. It can be found in Asian markets and many large supermarkets. Look in the Asian or ethnic section.
I'm just wondering if the baking powder would really make a big difference in the structure of the bread. Would baking powder be needed for other bread recipes that had fillings in it? I wanna make a swedish tea ring which includes sugar, cinnamon, glazed fruits and raisins inside. The only difference is I might not slice the sides of the bread to form tea rings.
heloooo.... anyone out there?
There are a few recipes out there that call for both baking powder and yeast (see RLB's _The Bread Bible_), but not many - and most of them fall into the category of quickbreads rather than yeast breads per se. All such recipes I have seen are for products (such as the pork rolls you mention, or very high-fat biscuits) where the chemistry of the dough is such that yeast won't provide enough pop but baking soda won't develop enough flavor. So you add yeast, do a fermentation step (and often a retarding step in the fridge overnight) to get flavor, and then bake with rising heat to get a pop from the baking powder.
Generally speaking if the dough does not have these characteristics yeast alone works and does not run the risk of adding "baking powder flavor" to the product, and if the quickbread has a strong enough flavor due to other ingredients then the baking powder alone is sufficient and there is no need for a fermentation step.
That's my understanding anyway.
sPh
Lucky for me I didn't have any of that baking powder taste that most people have mentioned, I just noticed that the bread I made did puff up a bit after baking, but then sagged and wrinkled as soon as it cooled. O well, ... on with my experimentation. Thanks for the insight sPh. =)