Thursday, August 21, 2008

Bagel 犹太面包 (贝果)

I remember the first bagel sandwich I had was at the Heathrow Airport. Till now, I still remember the chewiness of the bread.
There are many recipes of bagel and different ways to form the bagels into a donut shape. Some people likes to roll the dough into a “snake” and pinching the ends together. The other way is to shape the dough into tight balls and poke a hole through the center then stretch out the dough into a ring with fingers.

Since this is my first attempts I would like to go for the basic and simple one. This rustic bagel I made didn't looks very round in shape.
By the way, did you realize that there were actually five bagels in the above image?

These aren’t the giant-sized bagels as I purposely make it for breakfast or a snack.

I am now looking for whole wheat bagel recipe. Would you please share with me if you've got one. Cheers!

Method:

  1. In a large bowl of a stand mixer combine all the ingredients. knead dough with the dough hook until elastic, about 10 minutes on a low speed.
  2. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let proof for 1 hour.
  3. Get ready a large bowl of hot water and preheat the oven to 400F.
  4. When dough has risen, divide into 10 portions. Shape each piece into a tight balls.
    When all the balls are shaped, let the dough rest for 30 minutes covered with a clean dish towel.
  5. Once dough balls have rested, poke a hole through the center of each dough ball with your fingers. Stretch out the dough into a ring and make sure the hole is slightly larger than you want the finished bagel to have, as the bagel will expanding during the baking process.
    Let bagels rest for about 10 minutes.
  6. Drop the bagels into the boiling water. Boil for 2 minutes on the first side, then flip and boil for an additional minute.
  7. Transfer bagels to a clean towel to drain for a moment, then place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Egg wash the boiled bagel bake for 20-24 minutes, until golden brown. (I garnished it by adding some sesame seeds)