MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06
 
      Title: About Tangzhong
 Categories: Breads, Japanese, Info
      Yield: 4 Servings
 
           Tangzhong
 
  An intriguing technique for softer yeast bread and rolls
  
  How can you elevate your favorite dinner rolls to new levels of
  pillow-y softness in one simple step? Ditto your old-fashioned
  sandwich bread, tender cinnamon rolls, and gooey sticky buns. The
  answer: tangzhong, the Asian yeast bread technique that's gradually
  making its way into American kitchens.
  
  Let's not lose sight of a whole world of classic soft yeast breads:
  the sliced white bread of our youthful sandwiches, the Sunday
  morning platter of tender sticky buns.
  
  Tangzhong: the quick and easy path to softer, more tender dinner
  rolls, sandwich loaves, and cinnamon buns.
  
  This Japanese technique cooks a small percentage of the flour and
  liquid (water or milk) in a yeast recipe very briefly before
  combining the resulting thick slurry with the remaining ingredients.
  
  How does this technique affect yeast dough? It pre-gelatinizes the
  starches in the flour, meaning they can absorb more water. In fact,
  flour will absorb twice as much hot water or milk as it does the
  cool/lukewarm water or milk you'd usually use in yeast dough.
  
  Not only does the starch in the flour absorb more liquid; since
  heating the starch with water creates structure, it's able to hold
  onto that extra liquid throughout the kneading, baking, and cooling
  processes. Which in turn means:
  
  Since there's less free (unabsorbed) water in the dough, it's less
  sticky and easier to knead;
  
  The bread or rolls may rise higher, due to more water creating more
  internal steam (which makes bread rise in the oven  along with the
  carbon dioxide given off by the yeast);
  
  Having retained more water during baking, bread and rolls will be
  moister, and will stay soft and fresh longer.
  
  tangzhong in a nutshell: soft rolls (or bread) that stay soft for an
  extended period.
  
  While nothing beats a freshly baked, oven-warm roll, tangzhong
  delivers results that are a very close second  without the pressure
  of having to bake right before serving.
  
  Measure out the total amount of flour and milk used in the recipe.
  Now take 3 tablespoons of the measured flour and 1/2 cup of the
  measured milk and put them in a saucepan set over medium-high heat.
  Cook the mixture, whisking constantly; it quickly starts to thicken.
  Within a minute or so the mixture becomes a thick slurry.
  
  Transfer the cooked mixture to a bowl, let it cool to lukewarm, then
  combine it with the remaining flour, milk, and other dough
  ingredients.
  
  Proceed with the recipe as directed: kneading the dough; letting it
  rise; shaping the buns; letting them rise, and baking. Tangzhong
  yields soft, moist, tender buns.
  
  PJ Hamel

  From: Kingarthurflour.Com
 
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